Skychasers
by Pantherfang
Summary: In the depths of the forbidding mountains, a group of war-torn cats must fight and kill constantly to survive. Their life is extremely harsh, with death a constant friend. But they have no choice; there is nowhere else for them to go...
1. Prologue: The Roof of the World

The two beasts that walked through the mountains had no names.  
>One was the creature known to men as a snow leopard: a large cat with thick, dappled silver fur and large pale eyes. Her velvet paws made no noise as they pressed the snow into light footprints, and her body spoke of grace and subtlety. The being had an expression of cold indifference tempered by gentle pity, as though she would love each and every thing in the world if only they could overcome their basic instincts. Perhaps here lay a hypocrisy, for she had been the one who had created those instincts.<p>

Her companion was altogether different. A native of the range they walked through would recognise him as a Tibetan wolf—a small, sandy-coloured cousin of the Eurasian wolf to the west, with shorter legs, a more svelte muzzle, and a thick woolly coat. His kind were believed to be the ancestors of the modern dog, and indeed he did share many similarities with that species. He was as different from the snow leopard as night and day. Whereas she was reserved and enigmatic, he was jovial and kind-hearted, often walking with a smile, as he did so now. For what they were on their way to do was one of his favourite tasks.

They had no names, for there were no words existing in the world that could evoke their power and strength. They were not even two beings; they were aspects of the same essence, for, as the wolf had put it, "things get done much faster when there's two of you."  
>Leopard and wolf drew to a halt on the highest peak, their breath turning to clouds beneath their feet. The wolf turned his head to admire the view, but the leopard let out a growl of impatience and shouldered him onwards.<p>

"You can see this sight whenever you wish," she hissed in exasperation.  
>"It's not the same," was the reply.<br>Ignoring the wolf, the leopard padded into the centre of the summit, scraping at the snow beneath her paws. The whistle of the wind became a howl, and plucked at her fur like a child begging for attention; she snarled at the sky and at once it weakened to a whimper. The leopard began to mould the white substance between her paws, delicately kneading it into a sculpture. The wolf asked quietly if she needed aid, and drew back when she ignored him.

Days passed. Snow danced across the mountain ranges, but not a single flake drifted onto the summit of the mountain; nothing would dare distract the snow leopard from her task. The wolf changed his shape into that of a dark eagle, and coasted the air currents, keeping one of his keen eyes on his spirit-sister, knowing that when she had finished she would call him, and she would be very grumpy indeed if he didn't get there quickly. When her imperious yowl filtered through the mountains' cold serenity, he glided up a thermal and took his wolf form again to join her on the summit.

"You should be more careful," she growled. "What if someone had seen you?"  
>"My dear, no creature flies so high in the Himalayas, and this is before the time when humans can see to the stars."<br>This did not placate the snow leopard, and she eyed him coldly before gesturing to her work with a flick of her tail. "There. It is done."  
>The wolf turned his head. It was a sculpture made of snow and ice, its frozen eyes staring blankly into the distance. He appraised it more closely, and found that it was the design of an animal that was similar to the snow leopard in design, only smaller, and with thinner paws. Its shoulders rippled with snowy muscle, and its thin tail—held high up into the air, like a wolf! He let out a bark of approval, and turned back to his companion.<br>"The flesh?"  
>"I thought I might leave that to you."<br>"That's very sweet," he replied.

The wolf lifted his muzzle into a joyful howl, his voice seeming to ripple into a stream of pure laughter, bright as the moon above their heads. Words began to rise from his song, forming a lilting rhyme.  
><em>Two eyes from the tiger, crafted keen<br>Three feathers from the night-owl, silent and sleek.  
>Body of a feline, strong and lean,<br>And speed of the wolf maketh ye complete.  
>One world, one life, one life, one world.<br>Now you have flesh—stand forth!  
><em>At this, the sculpture of the creature began to ripple and change, the snow and ice falling from its body like a chick breaking free of an egg. Soon fur—long, luscious fur, of a brown-grey colour spotted with shadows—began to sprout in place of the snow. The frozen eyes turned into a luminous green, claws and teeth curved and darkened, until the complete animal stood in front of the two beasts.

The wolf held his muzzle close to the new creature, sniffing his handiwork carefully, checking for flaws. Satisfied, he stepped away. The creature before them was physically perfect, but it had no life. No consciousness. It was simply a shell, just standing there on the highest point in the world.  
>This time, when the wolf raised his song, the snow leopard joined him, her darker strains twining with his purity to form a complex melody that both soothed and chilled.<p>

_The night is above us; the stars are bright,  
>Now lift your head high and see their light.<br>Upon this mountain, high above the world you shall walk,  
>Far from the mice and birds you will stalk.<br>The world where your soul lies is so cold and dark,  
>So here we must stand, to bring life to your heart.<br>Come, leave the loneliness  
>Come, shun the empty space<br>For where you are now has nothing and less.  
>So now walk into the night<br>Feel the chill of frozen height  
>Let life stir your blood<br>As the stars watch from high above  
>Where you will go, once your life is done.<br>And you'll laugh and play in the trees and the grass  
>Foster life of your own, and loneliness is sparse<br>Where the sun rises and falls and the moon changes shape,  
>So walk from the dark, little one, and escape.<em>

And with the last lyrics fading into the sky, a light entered the creature's green eyes. Warmth blossomed down its thick pelt as it turned to face the Creators.  
>"Who am I?" was the first words that the first cat spoke.<br>"Your name is Mitternacht," replied the snow leopard. "Mitternacht, mate of Felidae, father of the cats."  
>The wolf stepped forwards and touched his nose to the proud creature's head. "You are a hunter and a warrior. Stay true to your nature, and respect that which you do not understand, and long will your descendants walk this earth."<p>

"A warrior and a hunter," repeated Mitternacht, tasting the words. He lifted his head to the sky above them. "What are they?"  
>"Why, they are the stars, little one," said the snow leopard. "For in all things, there is light."<em><em>


	2. The World of the Kingdoms

_NB: The Clans in this story have no real relation to the Clans of the Warriors series. I always assumed that the Erin Hunter Clans were European, and thus I made my Clans American, probably in the higher parts of the Rockies. (The prologue was of course set in the Himalayas)  
>You don't have to read this, but then you probably won't understand anything. I'll keep it brief.<em>

The Cats of the Mountains are a very large group, split into four Kingdoms. These Kingdoms are named for the geographic location of their territory—the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom, the Eastern Kingdom, and the Western Kingdom. Each of the Kingdoms have an extremely large number of cats—the smaller Eastern and Western Kingdoms both have around eighty, while the much larger Northern and Southern can have well over a hundred each.

With so many cats in a relatively prey-poor area, it probably won't surprise you to hear that each of these Kingdoms are consistently at war. Their goal is to take possession of the Field—a flat area of prairie that is guaranteed to prove food and water. The Field mostly passes between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, as the Eastern and Western ones do not have the numbers required to defeat their larger counterparts.

Since they have been fighting this war for centuries, the Kingdoms have gotten very good at what they do. Their culture is one that revolves around battle and ritual, and their society is based on your tactical intelligence and courage in a fight. If you are a coward or an idiot, the Kingdoms have no place for you, and the best you can expect is to be driven out. Kingdom cats must regularly fight to keep their places, with death the consequence if you lose. The Northern and Western Kingdoms worship the Snow Leopard, a cold and uncaring deity. The Southern and Eastern Kingdoms honour the Mountain Wolf, a kinder being.

The Kingdoms have developed many remarkable weapons of war, namely the creations of body armour and claw extensions. No Kingdom cat would be seen without his stone claws, and before battle most of them take the time to hide thorns and flint in their fur to cut enemy paws. The battles between Kingdoms are common and extremely brutal—alliances are unheard of—with many deaths.

It's pointless for me to tell you the names of all the Kingdom cats; there's just too many, and a lot of them will probably die. Life is very harsh. If you're not being killed in battle, you're starving to death, being taken by another predator, or falling off a cliff. I will only list the positions within the Kingdoms and the names of the royals.

**Kings: **The supreme male leader of the Kingdom.  
>Northern Kingdom: Midnight Snow<br>SK: Grey Clouds  
>EK: Thunder's Roar<br>WK: Mountain's Shadow

**Queens: **The supreme female leader of the Kingdom.  
>NK: Sun's Blaze<br>SK: Rain Storm  
>EK: Northern Lights<br>WK: Bright Stars

**Princes/Princesses:** Children of the Kings and Queens, one of these will be designated as heir to the throne. If they have kits, those kits will share their rank.  
>NK: Sunny Day, Ice Storm, Cold Night<br>SK: First Snowfall, Dark Shadows  
>EK: Lightning Strike<br>WK: Howling Blizzard, Storm Fury, Melting Ice, Soaring Eagle

**Dukes/Duchesses:** The highest rank a non-royal can achieve, granted only to the greatest of the knights. If both King and Queen die with no relatives, the new leader will be chosen from their ranks.

**Guardians:** The protectors of the royals. Given to skilled knights.

**Knights:** The Kingdoms' equivalent to warriors, except for the fact that they do not hunt.

**Squires:** Older apprentices at least 12 moons of age, these do some hunting while being trained to fight.

**Pages:** Younger apprentices at least 8 moons of age, these do most of the hunting.

**Maidens:** Carers of the kits. A maiden does not have to have kits of her own to hold this rank.

(There are no elders—cats serve until they have nothing left to give to their Kingdom, where they are chased off. Even royals are not immune to this) 

That's pretty much all you need to know, so have fun reading! 


	3. Chapter 1: Kingdom Before All Else

_It cannot be seen  
>But there's blood on the green<br>Only God knows I'm innocent  
>Take me, take me home!<br>_

**Moon of the Growing Frost, 26th Sun  
>In the season of Deep-Ice<br>Year 133, Kingdom-Time  
><strong>

There is no room for weakness in the world of the Kingdoms.  
>A massive tom, with blazing ginger fur streaked with bold black stripes, was crouching on an outcrop of dark rock. Snow settled on his shoulders, gentle, drifting flakes that contrasted to the cold ferocity in his amber eyes.<br>Lightning Strike, Prince and Heir to the throne of the Eastern Kingdom, gestured his cats forwards with a flick of his tail. They marched in perfect unison, their paws making no sound on the rock, their fur coated with mud to blur their outlines and dull the more visible colours. Only Lightning Strike kept his fur untouched; his pride would not allow him to obscure his fiery beauty.  
>Suddenly his sharp ears swivelled, and he stopped, his knights halting a second after. The faintest rustle had shuddered through the air, and his instincts were warning him that the world was not as empty as it seemed.<p>

_Ambush,_he thought quietly to himself, and several of the more intelligent knights were clearly thinking among similar lines, their bright eyes darting back and forth from him to the inky darkness ahead. While all Kingdom cats had excellent night-vision, the moon would vanish in two more nights, and was currently a thin cat's claw in the sky. Its wan light did not reveal what was in the shadows cast by tall rocks and the mountains themselves.  
>Lightning Strike paused to think carefully. This was almost certainly a trap. Ahead of them was a deep ravine, and he was prepared to bet his blood as a royal that there was a boulder very close to the high edges. If they went in there, they would die painful deaths.<br>He turned to his knights, and twitched his tail in thought. Finally, he spoke, his voice no more than a whisper.  
>"Moon's Light, Eagle Wings, come here."<p>

The two knights that he had summoned crept forwards, their pawfalls still as silent as owl-feathers. Moon's Light, a small grey she-cat, only knighted a moon ago, was trembling, her eyes wide with terror. She knew what was coming. There was one reason, and one reason alone, why a Prince would summon such a low-ranking cat right before a battle.  
>Eagle Wings, a big brown tom, was more composed. He had once been a fine knight, but the years were hanging heavily on his shoulders. It was remarkable that he'd survived as long as he had. But now, his luck had finally run out.<br>Lightning Strike nodded to the ravine. "You two, scout around that ravine and see if you can find a strategic position." The lie hung heavy in his throat, but that was the way things were done around here.  
>There is no room for weakness in the world of the Kingdoms.<p>

Eagle Wings gave a quiet nod. In truth, he was happy to leave the world this way. It was better than the humiliating kill at the claws of a younger cat. He lifted his head high and began to pace off into the night.  
>Moon's Light fixed her blue eyes on him, her shoulders continuing to shake. "Please, your Highness," she whispered softly. "Please."<br>Lightning Strike inclined his head. He was cold and determined, as was any cat that lived to his age. But he wasn't without mercy, and to see a young cat begging for her life hurt him.  
>"I'm sorry," he mewed gently. "May the Mountain Wolf guide your soul."<p>

She looked up at the sky, where the stars blazed above them, and swallowed, before turning to walk after Eagle Wings.  
>Lightning Strike held his breath, the silence seeming cold and oppressive. He watched the stars. Although they seemed still and unmoving, he knew they were not. After just a short amount of time, they began to move, with the exception of the Wolf's Heart, a star that always pointed north. He kept his gaze fixed on them, as the quiet serenity of the mountain night was shattered.<br>A massive _crack_stunned the air, and the snarls of pushing cats reached his ears a second later. Now he saw the boulder; a massive thing, the size of four cats nose-to-tail, with nearly fifty cats shoving against it. Finally, with triumphant yowls, they shoved the rock off the ravine edge, where it tumbled into empty space.  
>A thin, quavering yowl pierced the darkness, and Lightning Strike couldn't be sure, but he thought it was Eagle Wings' voice. Then he lifted his head.<p>

"Their ambush is ruined! _Attack!_"  
>A similar cry came from the throat of the enemy leader. He recognised the voice. Ice Storm.<br>The two surges of cats charged to meet, and he leaped to meet the Northern Kingdom Princess, who flattened her white ears, and lunged for his throat. He smashed her face aside with a giant paw, the stone extensions on his claws scoring lines across her cheek. He clamped his jaws into her neck, but she twisted away from him and kicked at his legs. They both drew back, barely breathing hard.  
>"Give up, Lightning Strike," Ice Storm spat, her white face glinting with red drops. "You will never be able to defeat the might of the Northern Kingdom."<p>

Lightning Strike glanced around. He saw no reason to surrender, as his cats were holding their own against their enemy and were even beginning to drive them back. "You must be fighting a different battle, Princess. I think, for once, your cats are outnumbered."  
>Ice Storm gritted her teeth and sprang at him again. This time, he was ready for her, rearing up on his hind legs to sink his claws into her chest. She let out a small cry of pain, her teeth already hooking into his head. The Eastern Kingdom Prince used all his massive bodyweight to pin her to the ground, cracking several of her ribs in the process.<br>Ice Storm went still under his paws, realising at last that she was lost. Lightning Strike considered killing her, but he realised she was right about one thing; his Kingdom could not destroy hers in a war.  
>He tightened his grip on her. "Say the words."<br>She nodded. "You have bested me. My life is yours, now. What is it you wish?"  
>"Surrender."<p>

Her eyes darkened, but it was Kingdom law that once a _elämä__velan_, as such things were called, was asked, it must be answered. She nodded. "I surrender."  
>He released her. She lifted her throat in the deep yowl of retreat. The Northern Kingdom knights did not even twitch a whisker in protest, swarming out of the ravine as they fled north, to their own camps.<br>Lightning Strike glanced at the scene. Eight cats of his had died, compared to twelve of the enemy cats. There were no serious injuries, and for that he was glad. He was not in the mood to slay more of his own knights.  
>The Prince looked around, and lifted his tail.<br>"This land is ours, now."  
><em>For <em>_today,__at __least._


	4. Chapter 2: The Gorge

_A dark seed reigns in me  
>Like the storm rules over the sea<br>I challenge thee, do not cross  
>This bridge alone<em>

**Moon of the Growing Frost, 27****th**** Sun  
><strong> 

**NB: For a glossary on Kingdom language, please see my profile page **

Leading his tired knights, Lightning Strike approached the lip of the gorge that marked their current camp, looking for the Kingdom sentry to announce their return. It had taken all night to mark the new border and return home. A cat approached him.  
>"Hello there, your Highness. I heard you were dead."<br>The light-hearted mew came from Lightning Strike's guardian, Broken Heart. The Prince smiled in response. "Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he said, touching his nose to hers in greeting.

Ordinarily guardians were supposed to remain with their royals at all times, but Broken Heart had injured her foot in a previous clash. The injury was not severe and Lightning Strike had refused to even consider the possibility of having her destroyed. Permanent guardians were hard to find; most of them were either promoted to dukes or duchesses, or were killed in battle. Broken Heart was a rarity; she was a better fighter than many of the current duchesses, but had turned down all offers of promotion.

Broken Heart was what Lightning Strike had imagined a sister would be like. Queens didn't often raise their kits, as their duties prevented them from having the time to do so. Lightning Strike had been mothered by a maiden who had milk to spare. At the time, she was also nursing his future guardian, who was an orphan (only royals had relationships with their fathers); her mother had died in birth, and the little kit's yowls sounded so grief-stricken that the maiden had named her Broken Heart. Kingdom kits were named after things that were unique to them; Lightning Strike was named after his father, Thunder's Roar, and his strange fur colour. He'd had siblings, originally, but they were weak and sickly, and mysteriously disappeared shortly after it became apparent that they wouldn't grow stronger. This had concerned the Kingdom, who began to mutter about bloodlines growing too close. Lightning Strike knew he had to father healthy kits of his own one day to allay their fears.

He and Broken Heart had climbed the ranks of the Kingdom together, and while he was stronger and faster than she was, she was much more agile and cunning, and usually got the better of him in their play fights. And when they were sent off to real, frightening battles, they'd saved each others' lives countless times. He'd had no hesitation in promoting her to guardian once they were formally knighted, and nobody in the Kingdom disagreed with his choice.  
>"So, how many did you kill?"<p>

"With my claws? None. I forced the battle to finish through _elämävelan_. I relish the thought of Ice Storm's humiliation when they return to their camps. The last time the Northern Kingdom lost a battle on their own territory was when we were kits."  
>"Technically, they didn't <em>lose.<em> They were forced to _surrender._ Go away and see their Majesties. I'm sure they'll be far more patient with your boasting than I am." Broken Heart shoved him gently before padding off.

Smiling and shaking his head, pleased that they were both still alive to joke, he ignored the respectful bowing of other knights and pushed his way through to the royal cave. The current Eastern Kingdom camp was set in a gorge carved by a long-lost glacier, though they would move their camps at the whim of the royals. This time, however, it looked as though the Kingdom cats would be staying here for some time, at least until the end of Deep-Ice. His father and the King, Thunder's Roar, despised moving camps in cold weather, and the gorge was as good a place as any to spend the cold season. The top of the gorge was narrow, to shield them from the worst of the wind and snow, but it was also wide enough to allow in sunlight during the noon hours. Both the Eastern and Western Kingdoms were nomadic in this fashion, but the Northern Kingdom cats lived in a honeycomb of tunnels in the heart of one of their mountains, while the Southern Kingdom knights lived almost exclusively in trees. The Southern Kingdom was a curious group; although they followed the same god as the Eastern, and the laws of all Kingdoms, they rarely battled over anything except territory they already owned and the Field.

Stopping at the mouth of the royal cave, Lightning Strike dipped his head to Hollow Tree, the duke standing guard. A thin grey tabby, he was renowned for being extremely clever. He had to have been a good fighter, or he wouldn't still be a duke, but looking at his willowy frame, the Prince thought that any cat wanting to beat Hollow Tree could simply sit on him.  
>"Your Highness," rasped the duke in his high-pitched voice. "What can I do for you?"<br>"I'm looking for my parents, if they're in here." He knew they were—he could smell their scent—but it always paid to be polite to dukes and duchesses. He would need their loyalty when he became King.

"They are. Do you want me to tell them that you're here?"  
>"Yes, thank you."<br>Lightning Strike examined the cold grey sky above his head while waiting for the duke to return. The scar on his left shoulder ached, warning him of snow to come. He sighed. There was still another whole moon of Deep-Ice to go before Melt-Ice arrived, the season where cascades of snow filled the river and green covered the bare rocks. Then would come the brief, sweet season of Bright-Sun, where for once there was enough food for the Kingdoms even if they didn't own the Field, before the sun would turn its face away from the mountains once more, leading into Short-Days, before Deep-Ice came once more.

Hollow Tree returned to the mouth of the cave. "They're ready for you, your Highness."  
>Lightning Strike thanked him before padding into the darkness, his eyes taking less than a second to adjust. He stepped through the tunnel before it opened up into a cavern where he and his parents slept.<br>"Hello, my dear," purred his mother and Queen, Northern Lights. Named for her beautiful pale blue-grey fur and her enigmatic green eyes, she licked his cheek.

A rumble of greeting came from the big yellow-eyed black tom. Lightning Strike was very large, but Thunder's Roar was larger still, his body made almost entirely up from heavy muscle and thick pelt. Although he was now heading towards the twilight of his life, he was still easily strong enough to snap a cat's neck, and no-one had even dared to think about challenging him. Scars roped his powerful body, including two shredded ears and an almost vertical line in between his eyes.  
>"Well?" he boomed, and the cave walls seemed to recoil from the power in his voice.<p>

"We lost ten. Eight in battle, two from _zhertva._ The Northern Kingdom lost twelve, and if we're lucky Ice Storm might be exiled. I defeated her through _elämävelan _pretty easily, and from what I know of Midnight Snow, he doesn't accept failure. Even from his own kin. And he's still got two kits to spare."  
>"Well done," mewed Northern Lights. Thunder's Roar merely nodded. "Some of the patrols picked up the scent of an <em>amenokti. <em>Probably just one that woke up too early from hibernation, but you can never be sure, so I want you to take a small group and see if you can find out if it's still in our territory or not. Don't do anything stupid. Take Broken Heart with you—her foot should be healed by now."

Lightning Strike nodded and turned to go, but his father's voice sounded again.  
>"One more thing. There's reports of odd behaviour coming from the Southern Kingdom."<br>"Odd, Father?"  
>"Cats jumping in and out of trees, gathering in groups, and there's rumours that they're sneaking around in the Western Kingdom. Not much to do with us, but it's strange, nevertheless. Wouldn't have believed the reports, but I saw some of it myself. Before today I could have counted the number of times I'd seen a Southern Kingdom cat on my claws and still have plenty left."<br>Lightning Strike frowned. "They're planning to invade the Western Kingdom? That doesn't sound like them at all. And why would they need to? They've got the Field."

"I'm don't care much about _why_ they're doing it," said Northern Lights, "I'm more concerned about _how._ Clearly their numbers are much larger than we previously thought, if they've got enough cats to dance around in the Western Kingdom _and_ still keep control of the Field. I agree it's probably not much for us to worry about for the moment, but the Western and Northern Kingdoms should start saying their prayers to their Leopard."  
>Lightning Strike tapped the stone with a paw. "Ice Storm didn't have many knights with her, and the ones she did bring were pretty second-rate. The Northern Kingdom, at least, is preparing to assault the Field. Are they attacking because they're scared, or because they think there's an opportunity?"<p>

"Your guess is as good as ours," yawned Thunder's Roar. 'But we can assume that Midnight Snow will want to have as many fighters under his command as possible, so he won't exile Ice Storm yet. Anyway, keep a close eye, son. This is one of those balancing moments. Either this is going to be hell for us or it's the best thing since Mitternacht founded the Kingdoms. Be ready for both."


	5. Chapter 3: Rainbow Dreams

_Don't dare me now, the threatening shadow will pass by  
>They're getting closer now<br>Open your eyes, wake up my dear young friend,  
>And hate shall fade away…<em>

**Moon of the Blue Snows, 1****st**** Sun  
><strong> 

The Western Kingdom, landwise, was noted for its similarities to the Eastern Kingdom. Their territories looked almost identical—mainly gulches and dry riverbeds, with occasional springs and groves—and were in more or less the same altitude. But the cats themselves were very different. They were the followers of the Snow Leopard, and she had passed down many of her qualities to her flock. The cats of the west were enigmatic and unpredictable. It was said that even their kits could look you in the eye and lie, and you could never get any more information out of them than they wanted to tell. _Elämävelan _was almost unknown to them, but, like the Southern Kingdom, they only turned to violence as a last resort. Instead, they expanded their territories through more subtle means. They had managed to claim almost half a valley by slowly inching their scent marks past the Southern Kingdom. Since Kingdom territories were too large to be thoroughly patrolled, and the south was especially difficult due to the large number of trees, it had been an entire moon before the Southern Kingdom realised that their territory had been taken from them.

But now, Drifting Snowflakes, one of the Western Kingdom's duchesses, began to wonder if that had been a mistake.  
>Perhaps because of their stealthy thefts, Western Kingdom cats knew their borders very well. The Southern Kingdom cats had been detected barely ten minutes after they'd stepped across the scent marks, but the royals had decided against doing anything. This had caused a rumble among the council—the dukes, duchesses, and guardians—led by Dark Night, a battlescarred black tom with glowing red eyes. Despite his sinister appearance, he was fiercely devoted to his Kingdom and hated it when anyone did anything that made the Kingdom look weak.<br>"Ignoring them won't solve the problem!" he had spat, glaring at the King. "They aren't here to offer us mice and wish us a fine day. They're spies. We should kill them and wear their skins as armour. _That _would teach those slinking kits of demons a lesson—"  
>Mountain's Shadow had interrupted at this point, stepping forwards to glare at the duke. "<em>Are you challenging me?<em>"

Dark Night had not backed down, but his ears had begun to flatten.  
>The King pushed him back with a heavy paw. "Answer me! Do you want my throne?"<br>At last the red-eyed tom shook his head. "No, your Majesty."  
>Mountain's Shadow bared sharp fangs. "Then you will do as I say. I don't <em>want <em>to provoke a war with the Southern Kingdom. They could crush us quite easily, and they know it. I'm waiting until the Northern Kingdom assaults the Field before I make my move."  
>Dark Night had submitted. What else could he have done? The King had made a speech that sounded brave but was essentially the words of a coward. The only reason why he was King at all was because his mate was so beloved among the Kingdom. Bright Stars' thoughts on this matter weren't known, as she was heavily pregnant with another litter of kits, and this one wasn't going well.<p>

In the spur of the moment, Drifting Snowflakes decided to visit her. She was kin to the Queen—her mother had been Bright Stars' littermate—which meant that nobody could object to her presence.  
>The she-cat let her paws steer her onto a course that let through a winding pass before depositing her at the mouth of a cave. And here she had to stop and steel herself, for the cave was unlike anything in any other territory.<br>The cave was made of rainbows. Chunks of glittering multi-coloured stone sparkled in the walls, dazzling her sight as her eyes tried to adjust to the lack of sunlight.  
>The tunnel was dangerous. The stones had a kind of magic about them; her mother had called them 'enchanters', but what that meant, Drifting Snowflakes wasn't entirely sure. Something in the dance and play of colour across the walls invited her to forget everything and stare at them. She had found that if you turned your head in certain directions, you could see new colours, and she felt sorely tempted to stand there and see just how many rainbows in the stones there were. It was better protection than any knight, as not even birds could seem to resist its lure.<p>

With the greatest effort she'd ever expended, the she-cat wrenched her head from the walls and looked resolutely straight ahead. Even then, they flashed at the corners of her vision.  
><em>It couldn't hurt to stop and take a look,<em> a growing part of her mind said. _Just one look for a few seconds. You won't get trapped—you're strong.  
><em>She was giving in to her thoughts when a voice sounded from the depths of the cave, snapping her out of her daydream.  
>"It's Drifting Snowflakes, isn't it?"<br>The duchess looked up. The cat was another she-cat, a slender tortoiseshell. But by far the most fascinating thing about her was her eyes, the same colour as the stones in the wall. Kingdom cats called them opals, but whether the name or the she-cat who stood before her came first was unknown.

Drifting Snowflakes dipped her head. "_Ameslari_," she said formally.  
>"Come on in," said Fire Opal, the secret of the Western Kingdom. Drifting Snowflakes shook her head to clear her mind one last time before following the strange cat past the sparkles, into a comfortingly colourless cavern. Drifting Snowflakes' eyes could make out the outline of a cat, whose belly was heavily swollen. "Is that her Majesty?"<br>"It is. Did you come to see her? I'm sorry, but I have to keep her asleep. She'd run away if she woke up, and neither she nor her kits would ever survive such a journey."  
>"Why would she run away?"<br>"She's afraid of this place. She thinks her kits will be born like me, with rainbow eyes and no will to fight. Your Queen believes, as many of your Kingdom do, that those stones are the eyes of demons and that they will enchant her children." The _ameslari_ gave Drifting Snowflakes a calculating look, and the duchess thought there was something searching in those bright eyes. "It would take courage, for you to come here."

Drifting Snowflakes shrugged. "I would not be a duchess if I feared rocks."  
>Fire Opal laughed. "But are they just rocks?"<br>Drifting Snowflakes held her ground. "I don't know. But I've never heard or seen any demons in this cave, and I've been here more than once. Until I do, yes, these are just rocks."  
>Now respect glimmered within the depths of the tortoiseshell's gaze. "Well. You are cleverer than you look. You are right. There is nothing magical or demonic about opals. They shine because they are made of a special material that splits sunlight into many colours. It is only the minds of cats, and other beasts, that make them different from other stones. There are opals in here, too, but the sunlight does not reach far enough to make them shine from the entrance you came through." She turned and placed her slender shoulder against a small boulder, which rolled away. Suddenly the cavern became alive with darting flashes, and a loud moan rang through the rainbows. Fire Opal quickly shut the entrance, which was barely big enough for a large tom to squeeze through, and the world became dark once more. Drifting Snowflakes glanced at Bright Stars, but the Queen was as still and quiet as ever. "Who was that?"<p>

"My other patient," said Fire Opal, padding across the cave. Unsure what to do, the duchess followed.  
>A small cat lay on the stone, but unlike Bright Stars, she was awake, her luminous eyes searching the darkness. She shrank away when she saw Drifting Snowflakes, but Fire Opal soothed her. "No, this is a good cat. She won't hurt you." The she-cat blinked, but settled again.<br>Drifting Snowflakes looked at the healer. "Who is she? What's wrong with her?"  
>"Broken hip and fractured leg. She's never said anything to me, but I think she must have been caught in a rockslide. Poor she-cat had to bite her own tail off to escape. I found her and carried her here."<p>

"But why?" Drifting Snowflakes wanted to know. "Why go to all that trouble? She'll never fight again. The best thing to do would be to put her out of her misery."  
>Anger flashed within the <em>ameslari<em>'s gaze. "Are you the Snow Leopard, Drifting Snowflakes?"  
>"Of course not!"<br>"Are you a demon with power over life and death?"  
>"No…"<br>"I saved this she-cat because I do not have the authority to decide her fate. I saved her because there is every chance of her surviving this and leading a healthy, full life. I saved her because I am not part of your cruel, bloodthirsty world. Never ask me such a thing again."  
>Abashed, Drifting Snowflakes touched her chin to the ground in submission. "I am sorry."<br>Something in Fire Opal's pose relaxed. "I understand, Drifting Snowflakes. I know it is impossible for you to think of doing anything but serving your Kingdom. But wounds heal, and bones regrow. Who knows? She may fight again one day. She's young and strong."  
>"What Kingdom is she from?"<p>

Fire Opal gave her an ironic stare. "As if I'd tell you that." She changed the subject abruptly. "Are you hungry?"  
>Drifting Snowflakes smiled. "You bet I am."<br>The _ameslari _disappeared to the back of the cave, but returned quickly, carrying a hunk of something that smelt so delicious the duchess' stomach growled. Almost as soon as Fire Opal dropped the meat, she pounced on it. The meat was tough and salty, but she didn't complain. When she was finished, she looked up. "Was that goat? How'd you catch it?"  
>Fire Opal smiled. "I don't just look after cats, you know. I treat the wounds of <em>canaver <em>and _amenokti. _Sometimes they bring me gifts. I'm grateful, because it saves me from having to take lives. I have salt springs, at the back of this cave. I drop the meat in there for a while and it'll keep forever."  
>Drifting Snowflakes' tail drooped. "I'd bring you food, but—"<p>

"I know. You don't have enough for yourselves, let alone me. But here I am, chatting like an old maiden, when you obviously came here for something much more important than opals and goats."  
>Drifting Snowflakes hesitated. Despite the <em>ameslari<em>'s…oddness, she found she liked and respected Fire Opal.  
>"The Southern Kingdom have been spying in our territory. More than usual. Some of us want to kill them, but our King won't let us. Says he doesn't want a war."<br>"And what do you think?"  
>"I think there'll be a war no matter what we do. If the Southern Kingdom wants our land, us killing their spies won't stop them or speed their plans up. But killing the spies means ten or twelve less knights to kill us."<br>Fire Opal shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have an answer for you, I'm afraid. I know nothing of war or politics. I just sit in my little opal cave, caring for whatever stumbles through my tunnel. But I think you're a good cat at heart, Drifting Snowflakes, so I'll tell you this. Listen to your inner voice. It won't lead you astray."

The duchess nodded, oddly comforted by the words. "Well, thanks. Um…if it's all right, do you think I could visit you sometime?"  
>"You're always welcome here, my lady."<br>Drifting Snowflakes smiled. "Thank you." She turned to leave, and was beginning to go through the rainbow tunnel when Fire Opal's voice stopped her.  
>"Drifting Snowflakes? Have you ever thought about leaving the Kingdoms? Finding somewhere else?"<br>The she-cat froze in her tracks. A wave of dizziness swept through her that had nothing to do with the stones around her.  
><em>Leave?<em>  
>She shuddered, and slipped out of the cave in silence.<p> 


	6. Chapter 4: Blood on the Mountain Slope

_War and anger shall reign__  
><em>_The clash of iron can be heard__  
><em>_By blindness you're driven insane__  
><em>_I'm lost in anguish and grief_

**Moon of the Blue Snows, 5****th**** Sun**_****_

Drifting Snowflakes knew she was dreaming.  
>She stood in a place that could not have possibly existed in the real world—a beautiful clearing, with soft grass and tall trees. The trees' limbs were thick and strong, a perfect place to catch birds.<br>A cat sat among the soft grass, examining the curve and flow of the stalks as wind whispered through the glade. When she walked over to him, he looked up.  
>"Ah," he said. "There you are at last."<p>

He was gigantic. He was more than twice her height, and probably three times her weight, and she was a formidable she-cat in her own right. His eyes were a sharp green, his fur a plain tabby.  
>"Do you know me?" he asked.<br>She shook her head; she'd remember such an extraordinary beast. "I've never seen you before."  
>A smile creased his mouth. "You have, but I doubt you would remember. You were very young. But all cats know me, my lady. Think carefully."<br>_…At this, the sculpture of the creature began to ripple and change, the snow and ice falling from its body like a chick breaking free of an egg. Soon fur—long, luscious fur, of a brown-grey colour spotted with shadows—began to sprout in place of the snow._ _The frozen eyes turned into a luminous green, claws and teeth curved and darkened, until the complete animal stood in front of the two beasts…  
><em>The part of the old story, the story that she'd never really paid much attention to, floated into her brain.

_"Your name is Mitternacht….mate of Felidae, father of the cats."  
><em>"Exactly," he purred, though she had not spoken aloud.  
>"Why are you here? What do you want from me?" Drifting Snowflakes whispered.<br>"_Tā__ḷ__me__, _my lady, _tā__ḷ__me. _Patience. All will be revealed, in time. First I have some questions to ask of you."  
>Drifting Snowflakes shook her head slightly and pulled back. "I don't want to be different." she whispered. "Please, find someone else." She did not want to be an <em>ameslari, <em>did not want to be like Fire Opal, reviled and thought of as an enchanter.

Mitternacht kept his green gaze level with her face. "Little one," he said kindly, "when you wake up I think you will find that what would be considered demonic yesterday no longer matters. Certainly you will not have been the only one I visited. The world is changing, and many dangers and challenges will be coming for you. A few can be changed themselves, though what they are, I am not at liberty to say. But most must be borne and overcome. There is precious little time, and you must let go of your fear if you are to play your part. You may ask me a question, which I will do my best to answer, and then I will ask you a question. Is that fair?"  
>Drifting Snowflakes nodded. "What am I supposed to do?"<p>

"For now, be strong, my lady. Your Kingdom needs you. Be as clever as the Snow Leopard, and as kind as the Mountain Wolf. In the future, you must do what you think is right. I cannot tell you more than that. But I will say this—relinquish the Kingdom laws. They served you well. But now the mountain you call home wants them gone. She says that her slopes wish to be covered with life, not death. And thus, my first question: what do you know of the outside world?"  
>She had not been expecting that. "I—nothing, really. I've never left the lands around the Field." She paused, and then asked Mitternacht, "Why did you choose me to talk too?"<p>

"Because you are a born leader. Cats admire and respect your voice. Because the only thing stopping you from the throne is your loyalty to the Queen. Because you will be needed. Do you wish to see the lands outside the Kingdoms?"  
>"What's there to see? I've climbed to the peaks of some of these mountains, you know. The world doesn't change, all the way up to the edge of the sky."<br>For a moment, Mitternacht looked strangely melancholy. "I must go now, my lady. Your time has come." He turned and walked into the trees, his outline fading and breaking up until he was gone completely.  
>Drifting Snowflakes sat there for a little while, admiring the softness of the earth beneath her paws. Why was everyone so obsessed with leaving? she wondered. Where is there to go?<p>

A high-pitched, loud noise began to screech in her ears, and she looked around, but couldn't find a source for the noise. The clearing disappeared, and she was looking at the hard stone wall of the upper-cadre den. The only thing that was the same was the screaming, which she now clearly recognised as the wails of dozens of cats.  
>She pushed her way into the freezing night and cast her eyes about frantically until they landed on a duchess she knew. "Rain Cloud! What's going on?"<br>Rain Cloud, a small and slender black-and-white, looked at her as though she had grown another head. "You don't know? Where have you been?" she cried loudly over the voices of the other cats.  
>"I was <em>asleep. <em>What's wrong?"

Rain Cloud trembled. "They're dead. All of them."  
>"I—what—who?" spluttered Drifting Snowflakes.<br>"The royals! We were all waiting for them to come out and organise the night patrols, but they never showed up. Eventually someone must have gone in, because a moment later there was just chaos. I went inside. It's awful, Drifting Snowflakes. Their throats were all torn out. Even the guardians. And Southern Kingdom scent was everywhere."  
>"They weren't spying at all," murmured Drifting Snowflakes. "They were waiting to assassinate the royals—but why do it now? And how in the Leopard's fury did they get in?" She glared at Rain Cloud.<p>

"Don't blame me," snapped her fellow duchess. "I wasn't in charge of camp sentries. As it happens, they're dead as well, and I'm willing to bet my rank that the sunset patrols have joined the Leopard too. The Southern Kingdom spied here for weeks. They probably know the territory as well as we do by now."  
>Drifting Snowflakes closed her eyes. "I know. I'm sorry I snapped at you. But it's just so awful, Rain Cloud. All the royals dead—wait! What about the Queen?"<br>"We don't know," answered Rain Cloud. She sighed. "I've been trying to arrange a patrol to go down to the _ameslari_'s cave to check on her, but all the other dukes and duchesses are needed to keep the Kingdom under control. The guardians are dead, and the knights refuse to go."

"_They refused an order?"_ said Drifting Snowflakes, shocked.  
>Rain Cloud gestured with her tail at the seething mass of howling cats. At the edges patrolled the other dukes and duchesses, fighting to keep the cats from fleeing into the night. "I don't think most of them even heard me. The ones who did told me that the <em>ameslari <em>had something to do with it, like infecting the Southern Kingdom with demons to slay us all. I would have beaten them into submission, but somehow I didn't think that would help."  
>"No, it wouldn't have," muttered Drifting Snowflakes. She raised her voice. "It'll just have to be you and me, then, Rain Cloud. I don't think anyone else will come."<p>

Rain Cloud dug her claws into the ground briefly, and Drifting Snowflakes felt her heart twist in sympathy. It took a very special kind of courage to walk out into the night with the world gone mad, and it took Rain Cloud a few seconds to find it. She nodded and the two she-cats left the camp. The dukes who were guarding the entrance eyed them, but let them pass.  
>Rain Cloud knew the territory better than she did, so Drifting Snowflakes was happy to let the small she-cat lead. It left her mind free to think on other thoughts.<br>"That's it, isn't it?" the black-and-white duchess said suddenly. Drifting Snowflakes stopped. Even in the wan light of the crescent moon, the cave sparkled with rainbows.

"Drifting Snowflakes?" said a voice from behind them. Both she-cats spun around, claws flashing, teeth bared in furious hisses.  
>Drifting Snowflakes was the first to recover. "Fire Opal! We thought you were a Southern Kingdom knight!" Rain Cloud's spine still bristled slightly, but she sheathed her claws.<br>Fire Opal wasn't listening. "Thank the Wolf and the Leopard you're here. Bright Stars has gone missing."  
>A cold knot of dread tightened in Drifting Snowflakes' gut, and Rain Cloud's eyes shuttered. Neither of them were surprised.<p>

Taking the darkness in their faces for anger, the _ameslari _explained, "I'm sorry, I knew I shouldn't have left her, but I thought she was asleep! I woke her from the sleeping herbs a few days ago and she agreed that she could not return to the Kingdom until her kits were born. There was a hawk with an injured foot, so I waited until she closed her eyes. My other patient, the one with the broken leg, says that Bright Stars crept out the moment I left." Fire Opal gritted her teeth. "I wasn't gone for long, and she could give birth to her kits any hour now. She can't have gotten far."  
>The two duchesses exchanged a look, but obligingly leaped from rock to rock, calling out her name.<br>Eventually Rain Cloud called out in a rasping voice: "Here."

Drifting Snowflakes squeezed her eyes shut, shivered, and then padded over to join her den-mate.  
>The one good thing they could say about Bright Stars was that her death had been quick. Like her mate and older kits, her throat had been cut in one clean slash. She would have suffocated instantly. And just as with her family's killings, Southern Kingdom scent drifted through the air.<br>Drifting Snowflakes found her voice. "That's what they were waiting for. They waited until she left the cave."

"And they wanted to kill her before she had her kits, too," added Rain Cloud softly.  
>Fire Opal looked bewildered and shocked. "I'm sorry, but—you sound as though you expected this."<br>"We did," said Drifting Snowflakes, still in the same quiet voice. "Or something like it." She faced Fire Opal. "The royals have all been assassinated. Every single one of them. The Southern Kingdom did it." She looked down at Bright Stars' body, the she-cat who had been like a second mother to her. Her eyes stung, but she was too weary to grieve properly. "They did it to destabilise us. And if you went into our camp right now, you'd see what a good job they did."  
>Fire Opal looked confused. "Why wouldn't they wait for her to have her kits? It would be easier, right?"<p>

Drifting Snowflakes shook her head. "It wouldn't be to their advantage if her kits were born."  
>Hope glinted in the tortoiseshell's eyes. "The other Kingdoms would fight them?"<br>"No. It will rile the Eastern Kingdom, but they can't do anything—they've been struggling with the Northern Kingdom for moons. If they attacked the Southern Kingdom too, they'd be crushed. No, the reason why they killed her now is because it's hard to find a cat with a stomach for killing kits."  
>Fire Opal shuddered. "Can't you just elect new leaders?"<p>

Rain Cloud rasped, "We can, but it will take weeks. When the entire royal family dies, all the dukes and duchesses must come to council and vote on who will be the next King or Queen. The next ruler must have a clear lead over the others to win. Since more than half of them want the throne for themselves, the vote will never be conclusive. So the dukes and duchesses wheedle and fight and persuade for the votes of others, and the lies and the politics start. Eventually the strongest cats will form their own bands, and the cat with the biggest band wins the throne. Then they choose a mate from the council, usually to a cat they promised it to in return for their band's vote, and that's the end of it." She shook her head. "My mother remembered the last time such a vote happened, when the royal family was destroyed by disease. She said it turned the fierce protectors of the Kingdom into squabbling kits."

"Well, when the council forms, I'll be casting my vote for Dark Night," remarked Drifting Snowflakes. "He was right, and we didn't listen."  
>Rain Cloud shivered. "We need to return to the camp and tell them," she murmured. Looking at Fire Opal, she said, "<em>Ameslari, <em>I don't believe you had anything to do with this, but many in our Kingdom do, so…"  
>Fire Opal nodded. "I understand. I'll stay out of your way."<p> 


	7. Chapter 5: Curse Them

_Sorrow won't wane 'til you die__  
><em>_A shattered body deeply hurt__  
><em>_And darkness will cover the light__  
><em>_It's gone forevermore_

**Moon of the Blue Snows, 6****th**** Sun  
><strong> 

Lightning Strike had never seen his father so furious in his life.  
>"<em>All <em>of them!" the King roared, slamming his paw so hard into the ground that a piece of stone flaked away. He ignored it, still staring at the spy, who was clearly wishing to be anywhere but there. Thunder's Roar strode back and forth, sheathing and unsheathing his claws, his pelt bristling so much that he looked twice his size. "Every single one of them! Curse that chunk of maggot-livered demon spawn that calls itself a Kingdom! May vultures peck out their eyes, may every flea and tick suck their blood! _Vervloek hulle, vervloek hulle almal!"_

"Don't keep your feelings all bottled up like that, my dear," said Northern Lights tersely. "It's not good for you. Let it all out. There might be a few creatures at the edge of the world who didn't hear you."  
>Taking her point, Thunder's Roar sat down, but the look in his eyes was still pure fury. "We're going there," he said, quietly. "I'm going to take the entire Kingdom south and—"<br>"And do what, exactly? Insult their mothers?" snapped Northern Lights. "We're not going anywhere. We'd all die."

"It's not right. We can't just sit here and watch them tear an entire Kingdom to pieces."  
>"But we can't fight them, either, Dad," said Lightning Strike, keeping a few lengths away from his father in case he exploded again. "We're still at war with the Northern Kingdom. If we launch an attack on the South, they'll eat us alive."<br>"It's not right," the massive black tom repeated, but his rage seemed to be fading somewhat. He looked at the spy, who actually jumped. "You, whatever your name is, what happened to the Queen? Bright Stars?"

"Your Majesty?" queried the spy, voice shaking. "She's dead—"  
>"I know she's dead, Wolf damn it! How?"<br>"Oh. Um, well, the thing is, it looks like she was killed in practically the middle of nowhere. They'd moved her body by the time we got there, but we still found a blood pool. They caught and, um, killed her the same way they killed the rest of the royals, but no-one else died with her. It looks like she was alone."  
>"No-one died with her except for her kits, who could have survived outside her womb," muttered Northern Lights.<p>

Lightning Strike frowned, confused. "What was she doing out there?" he asked his parents. "Without any guardians?"  
>Thunder's Roar rumbled within himself. "Mountain's Shadow may have been a coward, but he was as canny as a hawk. He knew he only gained the throne because of his father, just as he knew the only thing that stopped him from losing it was his mate. I'd say he had her stashed away somewhere safe, and was going to bring her back to the Kingdom once she'd had her kits. The Western Kingdom is a strange lot, but they're honourable. They'd never exile a Queen nursing kits. So he's kept her pregnant throughout his reign—this would have been her third litter—never concerning himself about her health, using her to keep his power. I'd say he deserved to die, but assassination is too good for him."<p>

Lightning Strike was horrified. "And Bright Stars just let him?"  
>This time is was Northern Lights who answered him, her gaze distant. "I met Bright Stars once, when I was a squire, on one of those rare occasions when nobody owns the Field and we hunt as we please. She was a knight then, and struck me as someone who would chew her leg off if she thought it would help her Kingdom. Sacrifice was her meaning. Perhaps she thought that bearing so many kits was a reasonable price to pay to keep her Kingdom safe. Or maybe she loved him."<br>"All very fascinating," said Thunder's Roar, "but the question remains—what are we going to do?"

Turning to the spy, he said, "You've done well, and I'm grateful. Tell the squires—Flowing Stream, go with him," he said to one of his guardians. "Tell the squires that you can have a bit more food tonight, as a reward. Is there anything else?"  
>The spy shrugged his shoulders, and said, "The Western Kingdom are keeping a secret, your Majesty. Whether it's got something to do with the Queen, I don't know, but it's hidden in a cave deep within their territory. I didn't get too close, but I've seen cats going in and out."<br>"Doesn't sound like anything vital. Keep a close eye, and report if you find anything out. You may go."

The spy dipped his head to the royals, and then left the den as quickly as was polite.  
>Northern Lights spoke. "I hope you're not still talking about the Western Kingdom. I thought we'd already made it quite clear that there's nothing to be done."<br>"I'm well aware of that. I'm talking about our own Kingdom. What are we going to do to defend ourselves?"

Lightning Strike rolled his big shoulders. "The Western Kingdom may have been all but destroyed, but that doesn't mean its cats will let the Southern Kingdom walk in without a fight. They'll take casualties. And the Northern Kingdom will pounce on them the moment after."  
>"The South will win," murmured Northern Lights. "They'd have never done this if they weren't absolutely certain they would."<p>

"Or maybe they're just really, really stupid and big," said the Prince, but without much hope.  
>Thunder's Roar had not been paying attention. He growled, "I'm going to order a territory search for Southern Kingdom spies, and kill them. I don't want so much as a whisker of them in my borders. And if they've got no eyes or ears here, maybe that'll delay them for a bit."<br>"And then?" asked the Queen.

"Hourly border patrols. We'll combine the hunting patrols with them—put a knight on each page and squire group. Cats will be at our borders constantly. Lightning Strike, start sorting out the knights. I want to know which ones are battle-fit and which ones need more training. Get one of the dukes or duchesses to help you organize a training program. Also, assess the squires. We'll probably need to knight some of them before too long, and the more the better. Be very careful, and don't leave the camp without at least four guardians. Which leads me to my fourth task for you—find out how feasible it would be for us to move camp suddenly, and in one night."

Lightning Strike nodded. "You think we will?"  
>"No, but I want every avenue covered. Northern Lights, I don't plan on being assassinated, but there's a chance we will be, so—"<br>The blue-grey she-cat sighed. "You want me to sort out the council."  
>"Pick a cat, and tell every duke and duchess in the Kingdom that if we all die, that cat will be in charge."<p>

"They won't like that."  
>"I don't care. Make them like it. There are precedents. The dying wish of a King or Queen overrules any decision the council makes. This is almost the same, except we aren't dying."<br>Northern Lights sighed. "They won't like it," she repeated, "but I'll do my best."  
>Lightning Strike nodded to his parents and left the cave. The moment he did so, Broken Heart bounded up to join him. "Something big happened, didn't it? You're wearing a very serious face, and I just saw one of the spies running for their life."<br>"He made Father angry. I'd run, too."

"At least he's still alive. You know, they say that in the Northern Kingdom, Midnight Snow kills messengers who bring him bad news."  
>"That sounds extremely short-sighted…anyway, the Western Kingdom is a leaderless rabble right now, and poor Mother has to pick another heir from the council to prevent the same thing from happening to us."<p>

Broken Heart clucked her tongue. "That'll set their hackles bristling, make no mistake. You know how touchy they get when royals intrude on their secret council business."  
>Lightning Strike shrugged. "They don't get a choice. That's the good thing about being royal."<br>"Still, they could make life difficult for you."  
>"Wow, I wonder what that would be like," he said sarcastically. Noting the hurt in her face, he suddenly felt bad. "Sorry. I know you're just trying to help, but I'm used to having a difficult life. Have you been sleeping well? You look tired."<p>

His guardian sighed. "I've been having strange dreams lately."  
>Lightning Strike looked up. "It's the weather, I think. I've been having a few of my own." Even for Deep-Ice, the air was painfully cold, so cold that fine dustings of ice froze over every cat's eyelashes.<br>"Come on. I need to find a duke or duchess that isn't as ambitious as the rest of them." 


	8. Chapter 6: The Glade of Tranquility

_Who sent out the wild beast free?  
>And who loosed the bonds of the swift beast,<br>To whom I gave the wilderness for a home  
>And the barren lands his dwelling place?<br>He scorns the tumult of the city.  
>The shouting of men he does not hear.<br>He explores the mountains for his pasture  
>And searches after every green thing.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows, 6****th**** Sun (later that night)**

The night was achingly cold when Lightning Strike reached the top of the gorge. He sighed. Making excuses to the sentries was annoying. They weren't, of course, allowed to stop him from leaving, but their suspicious eyes and not-so-obsequious questions always made the Prince think that the moment he left their sight they would race into the royal den and wake his parents. It hadn't happened yet, but Lightning Strike didn't believe in luck.  
>This wasn't the first time he'd snuck out of camp, nor the second. He'd often looked for an adventure in his page and squire days, bored out of his mind with the endless training and hunting. Because kits of the King and Queen didn't have any authority until they were knighted, the sentries <em>were <em>allowed to keep him in camp, so he'd rolled in mud and crept out while they were looking elsewhere. Unfortunately, he was now too large for such subterfuge. So he waited silently, watching the sentries from the top of the gorge, until they shrugged their shoulders and returned to their posts.

Allowing himself a sigh of relief, Lightning Strike padded through the Eastern Kingdom territory, his ears pricked for any dangers. He didn't fear the Southern Kingdom—their spies had been found and killed only hours before—but night was a dangerous time in the mountains. Night was the time of the cat's enemies. Although the _canaver _did not wander this part of the mountains due to an ancient covenant with the Mountain Wolf, no such agreement existed with the _amenokti, _and one had been scented a week ago. Most _amenokti_ were still hibernating, but not all did, especially the males. Night was also the dark hours of the owls, and the Great Horned Owls and the Great Greys had a taste for cat meat.

Suddenly Lightning Strike heard a scraping behind him, and he swung around, his fur bristling on end. The scraping stopped, but by then he'd gotten a better sense of the noise. It was the sound of a cat trying to follow him across crushed rock, a cat who was clearly not a master stalker.  
>"Broken Heart!" he hissed. "I know it's you. I've been hearing your clumsy paw steps my whole life. Give me credit for recognizing the sound one more time."<br>There was silence for another few seconds, before the brown tabby she-cat stepped in front of him. Her ears were pinned back. "What are you doing out here on your own?" she hissed softly.  
>"I could ask you the same question," Lightning Strike replied, but even as the words were leaving his mouth, he knew the answer.<br>"I was following you to see what you were up to!" his guardian said defensively.

"Like hell you were, Broken Heart. I'm going to guess. You had a dream where a gigantic cat named Mitternacht came to you and asked you to come to a meeting, set up in a glade in the Field. Am I right?"  
>She gawped at him for several long moments. "How did you know?"<br>"Because I had the same dream," he said wearily. "I've been having them for a few days now. Mitternacht comes to me, and he tells me nonsense about the mountains wanting us gone. This time, though, he told me to meet some cats in the Field, showed me a picture, told me not to worry about the Southern Kingdom, and was gone. So I decided to go."  
>"On the word of a <em>dream<em>?"

"You believed it too," the ginger tabby growled. "Why else would you be out here? And you told me yourself just this morning that you'd been having strange dreams."  
>Broken Heart sighed. "I know. I didn't really believe him, at first, but then I got to thinking, and I realized that I've never seen the Field properly before. Just that little tiny bit that joins our territory. I thought I should go, anyway, just to see what the Field was like. If it's as good as everyone says it is."<br>Lightning Strike smiled at her. "It can be an adventure, then," he teased her. "Like when we were pages, sneaking out of camp to try and find a _canaver._"  
>"We never did see one," she replied, mock-serious.<p>

"No, we saw some scary-looking rocks and heard an owl, then we ran back home."  
>Broken Heart grinned, her teeth flashing white in the darkness, and stepped closer to him as Lightning Strike took the lead, clambering over icy rocks and snowdrifts, relying on his memory as much as his eyes. He hadn't been to the Field border since he was a squire, hunting for his Kingdom. The knights themselves were too busy fighting border battles, patrolling, or practising their battle moves to hunt for themselves. The only thing that knights hunted were birds of prey, though they had to be careful. Falcons ignored cats, but hawks considered them a delicacy.<p>

At last the bare trees, mixed in with the sombre green needles of the evergreens, loomed into view. It was the forest that bordered the Field prairie. Lightning Strike and Broken Heart stopped at the border between the Eastern Kingdom and the Field, feeling their hearts hammering in their chests. They'd never stepped off their home ground before unless it was to try and steal territory.  
>But they barely hesitated before slinking into the Field, and they could not help but be wonder-struck. A gentle stream chattered to itself—unfrozen for some reason—as it wound its way through the trees. Scents of prey drifted into their noses, and it took all of their willpower not to follow them. They marvelled at the feeling of earth, real earth, beneath their paws, where thick tree roots snaked and pine needles collected in heaps.<p>

They had no idea where they were meant to go, but some other force appeared to be guiding them, and it pulled them through bushes both dead and alive, up and down slopes, and over streams. With the quarter-moon hanging high over their heads, they stopped at last in a glade that was an identical copy of the picture in their dreams.  
>Neither of them spoke. The two Eastern Kingdom cats merely sat down, tails curled around their paws, and examined the forest around them. Though no other cat was there, this was not a concern of theirs. They knew that someone would come, and they were content to wait until they did. There was a feeling of peace and safety within the glade; it had a rarefied yet gentle atmosphere that made horrors like war and murder become things that only happened in nightmares. Sitting there, Lightning Strike got the strange and unshakeable feeling that they were not in the Field at all, but in a whole different world, perhaps the domain of the Mountain Wolf; for how could any place in the Kingdom cats' universe have such beauty and tranquillity? There was nothing but the cold, harsh reality of the mountains.<p>

The lightest of footsteps made him look up. They were so quiet that he might have dismissed them for a gentle breeze, but Broken Heart had sharper ears than he did and she sat bolt upright. He did, too, but he could not make his hackles rise.  
>Three cats stepped into the glade, and Lightning Strike felt his breath catch.<br>There was nothing especially remarkable about the first cat, except her small size; she was a black-and-white, with sharp yellow eyes. She had a wary air about her, and she gave him a suspicious glance before sitting down on the other side of the glade from him.  
>The second was a tom, a gigantic brute of a cat with scarlet eyes. He was even larger than Thunder's Roar, and just as battle scarred—Lightning Strike knew without a doubt that this cat had to be a duke. Despite his fearsome appearance, however, there was something in his blood-red gaze that suggested a kind of innocence, a naivety that would persist no matter what darkness he saw. The Prince thought that this might be the rare kind of cat who would never dream of breaking a promise or betraying his royals.<p>

But it was the third cat that captured his attention. She was easily the most beautiful she-cat he'd ever seen. Her fur was a glittering silver tabby, the colour of moonlight on snow. Her eyes were a cool grey, and within them, Lightning Strike thought he caught a glimpse of the Snow Leopard.  
>"Are you the cats we're supposed to meet?" she asked, and Lightning Strike shook his head.<br>"I don't think so," he replied to her. "Did you have a dream of Mitternacht?"  
>"We did," she said. "Who are you?"<br>Lightning Strike got to his paws. "I am Lightning Strike, Prince of the Eastern Kingdom. This is my guardian, Broken Heart." The Eastern she-cat dipped her head to the silver tabby.  
>She blinked at them both. "I am Drifting Snowflakes. This is Rain Cloud,"—she nodded to the black-and-white—"and this is Dark Night. We are all members of the council."<br>The Prince dipped his head to all of them. "Our sorrow upon hearing of your losses," he said. "My father was enraged when he heard. He wanted to attack the Southern Kingdom."  
>Dark Night appraised him with his unsettling eyes. "Don't do it."<p>

"We're not," assured Lightning Strike. Broken Heart cast him a look, and he knew what she meant.  
><em>Don't go giving away our secrets!<br>_The brown tabby guardian looked around at the other cats. "And how is your search for a new leader going?" she asked. It was all very strange. Ordinarily there would be hostility and bloodshed by this point, but something in the air of the glade repressed those instincts.  
>"As well as can be expected," said Rain Cloud, with a trace of impatience. "Look, when are these cats going to show up? I'd like to get some sleep before I have to face the council again."<br>A new voice spoke, a very familiar one, rippling with amusement.  
>"We are already here, little one, but we are waiting for the Eastern Kingdom duke to step out of his hiding place before we begin."<br>_Eastern Kingdom—what?  
><em>There was a rustling at the bushes, and a willowy grey tabby emerged.  
>"Hollow Tree!" gasped Broken Heart. "<em>You<em> had a dream?"

"What dream?" snapped the duke. "I saw you and his Highness slipping out of camp, all very surreptitiously, so I decided to follow. I'm glad I did. Consorting with an enemy Kingdom!"  
>"They're hardly the enemy right now, Hollow Tree," protested Broken Heart.<br>"Hold your tongue, guardian," he snarled at her. He faced the Prince. "I am going to report this to their Majesties. They should know that their son is a traitor."  
>Lightning Strike stood over him, anger at last clouding his emotions. "You're not going anywhere. I forbid you to tell anyone of this meeting!"<br>Hollow Tree bared his teeth. "I don't have to obey your orders if they involve an action that undermines the Kingdom, _Prince_," the duke growled. He was going to say more, but the outline of a giant tabby began to form, and he choked on his words. The air seemed suddenly sweeter, the earth warmer, the moonlight brighter. The stars above their heads began to shine with extra intensity, as for the first time in two hundred years, Mitternacht, father of the cats, walked upon the mortal plain.

"Children," he murmured gently, "enough."  
>He turned his massive head towards Hollow Tree, who, to his credit, did not back down. His whiskers twitched and his eyes widened, but he remained where he was. All the other cats sank to the ground, keeping their eyes respectfully lowered.<br>"My lord," said Mitternacht, still in his same kind tone, "release your anger. No wrong has been done to you. Your bitterness has no source except your own heart. You are lonely, and that is not a crime, but it is cruel to inflict pain upon others because of your sadness. Do you wish to be free, my lord? Do you wish to be able to roam the world at your will, bound by no laws but the ones you create?"  
>A strange emotion entered Hollow Tree's eyes. "Yes, your Majesty."<br>"Then come forwards, my son." As the duke stepped forwards, Mitternacht bent his great head and whispered something in his ear that no cat ever heard. Hollow Tree would tell no-one, and all that can be said was that a new expression was on his face, and that he looked neither happy nor unhappy, but at peace. His shoulders straightened, and he sat down, his tail curled around his paws.  
>"…Yes. You are not what I originally had in mind, but I bow to the will of the world. You will do well," approved Mitternacht. He looked around at his children.<p>

"I must leave you now, for there is much to do. But I will say this. All of you that are here now were chosen to come for a reason. It may be a quality you have, it may be something that you will do or say. But remember that. Remember that, and be kind to all cats. None of you—not even his Highness—has had an easy life. Remember the law of _elämävelan_, that mercy is sometimes a more potent weapon than all the claws and fangs in the world. Be brave, little ones."  
>And with that, his outline blurred again, and he vanished into the night. The world returned to its mortal state, and the cats that were lying in the earth returned to a sitting position.<br>"So," said Lightning Strike, glancing around at the others, "what are we going to do now?"  
>Hollow Tree looked up. "Speak to that she-cat."<p>

They looked at him, baffled, but followed Hollow Tree as he climbed to his paws and pushed his way past dead bushes, towards a dark and shadowy shape. It turned, and the cats took a step back, for almost nothing could be seen of the cat except for a pair of luminous green eyes.  
>"Who are you?" asked Drifting Snowflakes, and the green eyes blinked. Lightning Strike twitched his nose, searching for a scent, but couldn't find anything. It was as though the cat did not really exist at all.<br>"I won't say my true name," replied the she-cat. Her voice was soft, but it had a hard, proud edge to it. "That would be telling. But you can call me Holly Leaf."  
>It took Lightning Strike a few moments to remember what a holly was. There were a scattering of such plants in the Northern Kingdom, and he had only seen one once. It was a thick bush with bright red berries and prickle-edged leaves.<br>Broken Heart spoke. "I'm sorry, but throughout all this we haven't gotten a clear answer to this. What are we supposed to do?"

Holly Leaf smiled. "That's the problem with dealing with gods, isn't it?" she said. "Too many riddles. What Mitternacht wants you to do is simple. He wishes you to gather your Kingdoms and lead them to a new home, far from here."  
>Although everyone except Hollow Tree had already guessed something similar, it was still a shock to hear it out loud.<br>"_Leave_?" demanded Dark Night. "But I don't want to leave!"  
>The dark cat, Holly Leaf, shook her head. "They don't care what you want. It's not a choice. Either you leave, or you die."<br>"Die? How?"  
>"I don't know. <em>Listen<em> to me. I'm not like Mitternacht, all right? I'm the soul of a dead cat—what do you call them, an _arima._ I'm meant to walk a sky very far away from here—oh, you can't imagine how far. But I came here because I was told to do so. I only know a little more than you do. All I know is that something bad is going to happen, something terrible, and the only way to avoid it is to leave, leave the mountains entirely, and find another place."  
>Lightning Strike spoke. "I don't know about the Western Kingdom, but my parents would never agree to just go somewhere else."<p>

"We have to elect a king or queen before we decide anything," began Drifting Snowflakes.  
>Holly Leaf twitched her tail in mild frustration. "Make them agree! All of you hold important positions in your Clans—Kingdoms—whatever. If you can't convince the council that it's worth leading, then take the cats that want to go and do it yourself. It'll be easier, of course, if they all want to go. But if not—death or exile. Those are your choices. I'm sorry, I can't stay any longer. I'll see you around." She began to fade, but Lightning Strike's voice stopped her.<br>"Please, one more question?"  
>"I really must go…"<br>"Yes, but can you tell us one thing? What's so special about this clearing? Why does it make us not want to fight?"  
>Holly Leaf's eyes were growing dimmer and dimmer, and when she spoke, it was barely more than a whisper.<p>

"It's not the clearing, Lightning Strike. It's you." And with that, she was gone.  
>Again silence reigned between the gathered cats, with Drifting Snowflakes the first to break it.<br>"It'll be light soon," she mewed. "What are we going to do?"  
>Broken Heart spoke tentatively. "We'll have to meet again. Here's as good a place as any. And maybe we could bring our leaders—or in your case, the council—and get them to see that they must leave. Why can't Mitternacht just <em>tell <em>the leaders to go?"  
>"In all the stories, the gods never did things the easy way," said Rain Cloud thoughtfully. "And those adventures always taught us some sort of secret, hidden lesson. Maybe we need to find it ourselves."<p>

Lightning Strike glanced at her, startled. There was more to this she-cat than what met the eye.  
>"All right, then," said Dark Night, sounding resigned. "I say we meet in three suns, here, around moonhigh. It'll be half-moon then, so there'll be plenty of light. And—Drifting Snowflakes, I've been thinking. I reckon we should ask the <em>ameslari <em>to come."  
>"You have an <em>ameslari<em>?" said Hollow Tree, shocked. "I didn't think they were real."  
>"This one is. And it's a good idea, Dark Night. I'll ask her when we get back." The silver tabby duchess looked at the Eastern Kingdom cats, her eyes landing to rest on Lightning Strike. "I hope we'll see you in three suns," she mewed, and the Western Kingdom cats dipped their heads and vanished into the trees of the Field.<br>"With or without my parents, I'm coming," Lightning Strike murmured, though he knew she would not hear him. 


	9. Chapter 7: A Message on the Wind

_I met you when I was wandering__  
><em>_It's been many worlds since then__  
><em>_Though my secrets are wild and deep__  
><em>_And my mind races while I sleep  
>I will plant my hunger here, in you.<em>

**In the spirit world, time unknown**

Hollyleaf was alone.  
>Loneliness was now a common feeling to her, as constant as her own shadow.<br>Once, she had not been alone for a single moment of her life. Once, she had loved and been loved, with friends and family to support her, until they had been torn from her through fate.  
>But even after that, she hadn't been lonely. Because then she'd found her soul-mate, her kind-hearted fool of a tom who had made the world seem smaller and less dark.<p>

He had been lost to her as well, and even after many years of searching, she had yet to find his soul.  
>The black she-cat looked around her. She was in a barren, sterile environment, a flat plain with no undulations in the contours of the land. There was not a blade of grass sticking through the brown dust. The moon did not exist, and the star that was the Earth's sun was simply another distant speck that shed its feeble light on the utterly empty landscape.<br>"Why am I here?" she called.

__The deadness around her did not give an answer, and suddenly Hollyleaf dropped to the ground, her face rubbing a scrape into the earth.  
>"Why am I here?" she repeated, this time in a quiet whisper. "What's the point?"<br>Silence.  
>"Am I cursed?"<br>Nothing.  
>Hollyleaf raised her green eyes to the starry sky. "I just want to go <em>home<em>," she quietly said. "The Kingdom cats have already figured out what to do. They don't need me—no-one needs me! _So why am I here_? Why are you doing this!"

__This time, she did not wait for an answer; she pushed her nose into her paws and closed her eyes.  
>The one thing that separates humans from animals, above all else, is their ability to cry.<br>Weeping is a release; it is the real, physical form of the sadness within. Even in unchanged situations, it feels better to shed tears, because then the sadness has become real and undeniable and is being lost. But cats cannot do this. Their grief, pain, fear, and loneliness has no release, so it stays hidden, and grows.

Hollyleaf cried. Her shoulders began to shake, and her head pounded with pain, but her eyes stayed completely dry, and somehow that made it seem worse. She cried for all the animals she knew, all the ones she didn't know, and even the beasts she didn't want to know. But most of all she grieved for herself, hating the destiny that haunted her even into death. In her mind, fate was a hungry, dark monster, hovering over her, trapping her under its talons every time she tried to run away. It was a shadow that pulsed through the blood of all cats. It had wrapped around her teeth when she'd bitten through Ashfur's neck, and now, in the depth of her depression, she could hear its laughter. There were many names for the thing that darkened her heart, but the name she thought best for it was the Kingdom word _cythraul,_ which literally meant "spirit-eater".

How long she lay there grieving, she never knew, but suddenly a wind began to pulse through the barren plain, and she looked up. The stars began to pulse brightly, and it was enough for her to shake off her melancholy and sit up. "Mitternacht?" she breathed softly.  
><em>Sometimes, but not now, <em>the wind replied, brushing her fur like a mother's tongue.  
>"Why am I here?" Hollyleaf asked, for the third time.<br>_Because you came.  
><em>"What did I come for? I can't work it out. The Kingdom cats are strong and intelligent. They don't need me."

The wind did not answer this. It blew around her ears, and Hollyleaf could have sworn she heard amusement in the sound of its graceful curves.  
>Frustration at the consistent lack of answers boiled within her stomach. "I've gone mad, haven't I?" she said, looking all around her. Apart from the wind, nothing had changed. "You're not real. You're just in my head."<br>_How do you know I'm not real? _asked the wind, still seeming to laugh.  
>"Well, I can't see you."<p>

_Close your eyes, Hollyleaf.  
><em>Obediently, Hollyleaf did so, and the world was shut out from under her. The darkness was somewhat comforting. "What am I meant to be seeing?" she called out.  
><em>What do you want to see?<em>  
>An image of her mate blossomed before her eyes—his gentle blue gaze, his beautiful golden fur that shone like the sun. He tilted his head, listening to the sweet song of birds chirruping in the verdant forest that surrounded them.<br>_Now, open them.  
><em>But Hollyleaf didn't. She squeezed her eyes shut more tightly, not wanting to lose the memory.

_Don't worry, he'll always be there,_ said the wind, _the next time you look, and the time after that. Forever, in fact, until you find him again. Which you will.  
><em>The black warrior opened her eyes reluctantly.  
><em>When you closed your eyes, was Saffron there?<br>_Hollyleaf nodded.  
><em>Is he here now?<br>_"No," she whispered softly.  
><em>Is that true? Look again.<br>_"What's your point?" she snapped, feeling her irritation rise again. "Why are you doing this?"

_It is possible for things to be in more than one place, Hollyleaf the Forgotten Warrior, _blew the wind. _Our thoughts and memories are more real than you might think...it's like dreaming. When you dream, you are in the same place that you fell asleep, yes? But you are also elsewhere. Minds _move. _The realms they explore are not ones that you can walk, usually. Time and space are not barriers to thoughts. You can't travel back in time, little one—very few can. There is only the future. Don't grieve for your old life, look towards the new. In travelling forwards, you may regain something of your past, but if you wallow in history too much then it will consume you and you will indeed be nothing to no-one. Be like the stream. Travel forwards, and become more than you currently are.  
><em>"So how am I supposed to help the Kingdom cats?"

_You will guide them home.  
><em>"And where's that?"  
><em>Think about what I have said.<br>_Hollyleaf frowned. The wind seemed to be making less and less sense with every passing moment. Perhaps it sensed this, because it abated for a few moments, before blowing with somewhat less intensity.  
><em>Time heals all wound eventually, Hollyleaf, but until then we must learn to hide our scars. Go back to the mortal world and aid the Kingdom cats.<em>

__"Are they really that important?" asked Hollyleaf curiously. "I thought Mitternacht was just…you know, being nice."  
>Once again she thought she felt laughter in the breeze. <em>All things are important, and Mitternacht is always kind…but yes, the Kingdoms have a part to play that will echo across many realms. Not in their lifetime, nor in the lifetimes of their kits, but someday.<br>_"Will I have a part to play in that?"  
><em>If you choose to.<br>_Hollyleaf shook her head, realising that she was out of her depth. "Thank you for the…um, talk, but I probably should be getting back to the mortal realms. You know, to help the Kingdom cats like you asked."

One last cool zephyr rippled through her fur, but the voice did not speak again. Hollyleaf shook her head, and was about to leave the spirit world when something touched her paw. She let out a yelp and leapt about a foot into the air. Upon landing, she looked closer, and discovered that it was not a living—metaphorically speaking—thing that had touched her, but a blade of grass.  
>Holding her face closer, surprised that she hadn't noticed it before, she saw in the starlight another dark spear poking through the dust. She looked a little further ahead, and caught sight of more grass wriggling through the barren land. The she-cat gasped, as before her eyes the flat plain was transformed into a swaying prairie of grass. A sweet smell entered her nostrils, and she turned to find a patch of blooming flowers nodding to her. Like the grass, they were spreading and growing. The world grew a little darker as trees exploded from the earth, holding their branches high against the starlight, and nocturnal animals began to scurry through the world as it transformed into something that very closely resembled ThunderClan territory in greenleaf.<p>

Smiling, Hollyleaf recognised it as the gift it was intended to be. "Thank you," she called to the invisible voice, and stepped through the barrier between the mortal and spirit worlds._  
><em>_  
><em> 


	10. Chapter 8: Moon, Fire, Dark and Snow

_It was a long and dark December__  
><em>_From the rooftops I remember__  
><em>_There was snow__  
><em>_White snow__  
><em>_Clearly I remember__  
><em>_From the windows they were watching__  
><em>_While we froze__  
><em>_Down below  
>So if you love me, won't you let me go?<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows, 7****th**** Sun**

_…the mountains themselves were screaming in horrific agony as vast chunks of stone tore themselves from the slopes that had sheltered so many generations of cats. Trees snapped like twigs beneath the tumbling rocks as they carved new features into the rugged face of the earth. The shrieks of animals added to the wave of sound as they fled for their lives, fleeing what had once been their home…  
><em>Dreaming?

_Great cracks began to lace the mountains as they groaned under their own colossal weight, as though they no longer even had the strength to stay upright. A stream suddenly found itself flowing into thin air; it tumbled through space and splashed onto the shards of stone below, scattered like casualties in a Kingdom battle.  
><em>What is this?

_And with one last thunderous roar shaking the foundations of the earth, it seemed as though the sky itself began to collapse. A bright speck of light suddenly made a dive for the mountains, streaking through the sky and landing with a sizzling spit onto the rock. Another one joined it, and another. The stars were dying.  
><em>"No," whispered Drifting Snowflakes, both in her dream and the true world, "never that."  
>And with a start, she woke up.<p>

Her paws were slippery with sweat, and her heart was racing as though she had been running for the past sun. The air around her seemed suddenly thick and cloying. She glanced at the walls of the upper-cadre den, which had previously seemed so strong and secure; now she felt trapped, as though they could collapse on her at any moment.  
>As quietly as her adrenaline-drenched body would allow her, she stepped over the bodies of her fellow dukes and duchesses. She paused at Rain Cloud's slumbering form, wondering if she should wake her. <em>No, <em>the silver tabby thought decisively, _let her rest—it might be the last good one for a while._

__Poking her head through the mouth of the den, Drifting Snowflakes gasped as a blast of intense cold slammed into her face. Her eyes immediately began to water in protest, but she breathed deeply, the crisp air helping to soothe her racing nerves. Taking a few steps into the outside world, her paws crunched through a crust of snow, slipping slightly on the icy rock beneath. It had snowed again during the night.

The sky above her head was a soft, pale grey, shrouded in heavy cloud. The sun was invisible except for a patch of brighter sky peeking over the mountains to the east. Looking around, Drifting Snowflakes noted the icicles hanging over the mouths of the tunnels that the Western Kingdom slept in. The pre-dawn light filtered through the spears of frozen water, turning them to glittering diamonds. Drifting Snowflakes smiled at the tranquillity of the scene. She could have almost believed that this was Svarga, the Snow Leopard's heaven where her followers found eternal peace. She'd always imagined Svarga as a cold but beautiful place, where her ancestors frolicked in the snow—frolicking! She chuckled inwardly at the silliness of the term. Western Kingdom cats didn't _frolic. _They were serious and enigmatic to the bitter end. Laughter was a rare thing indeed among the Western cats; when they laughed, they did it in a way no other cat could see. The silver tabby wondered if that was a thing common to all Kingdoms, or if it was their folly alone. The Prince she had met—a few hours ago!—had not seemed so cold. There had been a brightness to his eyes, as though he'd had cause to be happy. Or was she wrong? _None of you have had an easy life, _Mitternacht had said.

Sitting down on a relatively ice-free crest of rock, she watched the sun struggle free of the mountains, allowing her thoughts to float through the clean air and shed some of their darkness. So lost was she in the beauty of the dawn that she failed to notice the massive black tom approach her.  
>"Drifting Snowflakes," he said in his deep voice, and she swung around—too quickly. Her paws struggled to keep their grip and she began an ungracious slide down the slope of the crest. Before she completely humiliated herself, Dark Night seized her by her scruff, and pulled her upright again. Her whiskers twitching in embarrassment, Drifting Snowflakes did her best to meet his red eyes.<br>"Oh," she said somewhat lamely. "You startled me,"  
>He watched her, expressionless. "So it seems." As the awkward pause stretched between them, he spoke again. "We need to see the <em>ameslari.<em>"

Drifting Snowflakes looked around. It was well and truly day by now, with only a touch of pink marking the blue sky. Still, it was quite early for a cat who didn't have to hunt or patrol borders. "Right now? Will she be awake?"  
>"Do I care?" replied Dark Night. "Now's a time that's convenient for both of us, and she likes you, or so they say. Unless you have something better to do?"<br>"No," she replied, looking away from him. "But there's always tomorrow. The meeting's not till the night after that."  
>"It can't be tomorrow," said Dark Night, turning away and beginning to walk towards the camp entrance. "Tomorrow, after dawn, the council is gathering to elect the new King or Queen, and right after that, we need to tell the Kingdom to leave."<p>

"How'd you manage that? Normally they'd take weeks to decide on a date, and even then it might not be conclusive," said Drifting Snowflakes, surprised. She followed him.  
>The black tom snorted in contempt. "I persuaded them otherwise."<br>"You're going to name yourself as a candidate," said the duchess. It was a statement of fact. "Do you have majority voting for you?"  
>"I believe I do, but if the vote isn't conclusive, then we'll have to break the news to them anyway. But it would be easier if we only had to convince one cat, not ten, and easier still if I could just order them to do it."<p>

"Two," said Drifting Snowflakes. Dark Night gave her an odd look. She elaborated. "We'd have to convince two cats. The King and the Queen. It's traditional for the winner to pick their mate right after the election."  
>Dark Night did not reply to this, falling behind her. "You know the way to the <em>ameslari<em>'s cave better than me. Lead."  
>"Just so you know, I don't think she likes being called an <em>ameslari<em>," said the silver tabby, taking up the lead and turning into the gorge that led to the rainbow cave. "It makes her sound like a Kingdom cat."  
>"She lives in our lands and eats our prey, no matter what creature brings it to her." rumbled the black duke. "If she doesn't like what we call her, she can live among the <em>canaver<em>. I'm sure they'll be more accommodating."

Knowing it was pointless to argue with Dark Night, Drifting Snowflakes didn't respond, merely leading her fellow cat down into the rainbow depths of the cave. She was interested to note that Dark Night did not pay the beautiful walls a drop of his attention; his ears were angled back and his eyes were firmly set forward. Either he'd been warned about the spell of the cave or he was exceptionally single-minded.

Before Drifting Snowflakes had thought to call for her, the tortoiseshell she-cat had already appeared at the end of the tunnel, beckoning with her tail. As the two cats passed her, Fire Opal gave the silver tabby a smile. Her reaction to Dark Night was somewhat more reserved; she nodded to him, before padding after them into the soft darkness of her cave.  
>Nothing had changed since Drifting Snowflakes had last been here; she then realised with a faint sense of wonder that it had only been a week. It seemed so long ago, and in a way, it was. It had been different back then. Everything had seemed brighter and more simple.<p>

Dark Night prodded her with a heavy paw, and with a start she looked up to realise Fire Opal was looking expectantly at her.  
>"Oh, I'm sorry. What did you say?"<br>The she-cat smiled. "How are you, Drifting Snowflakes?"  
>"I'm all right," she said. "Just a little tired."<br>"And is _all right _special Kingdom code for 'I feel like hell'?" asked Fire Opal with a trace of amusement.

"Why do you ask?"  
>The healer turned her head and nodded towards the small she-cat that had been her patient last time Drifting Snowflakes had visited. "Because she says she's all right, too."<br>The small cat lifted her head and gave both of them a challenging stare.  
>Drifting Snowflakes tried to give her a friendly smile. "Hello. I'm Drifting Snowflakes, a duchess of—"<br>"I know," rasped the small she-cat, and she turned her head away again.

Fire Opal sighed. "You'll have to forgive her manners. She's not the most…polite of cats." She looked back at her patient, before giving them both a weary smile. "What brings you here? You look serious."  
>Drifting Snowflakes wasn't sure how to begin, so she looked at Dark Night. He cleared his throat. "<em>Ameslari—<em>Fire Opal—we, and possibly the rest of the Western Kingdom, will be leaving the mountains in a short amount of time."  
>The news had absolutely no impact on Fire Opal. She didn't even blink.<br>"You already knew?" guessed Drifting Snowflakes.

"You don't call me an _ameslari _for nothing now, do you?" she replied enigmatically. "I get a…a _sense _of things that are coming. Sometimes I dream, though not as often as I used to. I'm growing old."  
>Drifting Snowflakes frowned. Fire Opal didn't seem much older than herself. "Well," she said, "Your senses are right. But we're trying to convince the Eastern Kingdom to come with us, and we'd like you to meet us in a place in the forest that surrounds the Field. To help us explain things to them."<br>"When? Tonight?"  
>"No, the night after tomorrow. Meet us at our camp."<br>"Actually," said Dark Night, "it would be better if we met you here. Our royal elections are tomorrow, and if we don't get a leader that we can convince to lead, it'll have to be us four, and I don't think he or she will appreciate you hanging around our camp."  
>"Four?" queried Fire Opal.<p>

"Rain Cloud—the she-cat you met when we were looking for Bright Stars—she's in on it, too."  
>"I see," she replied. "But what do you want me to do?"<br>"Help us convince them," said Dark Night. "Convince them to come with us. We have three of them helping us, but—"  
>"The Eastern Kingdom?" came the voice of the small she-cat. She lifted her head, and again there was something almost challenging in her eye. "You're going to see them?"<br>"Yes, we are," said Drifting Snowflakes. "Why do you ask?"  
>The she-cat suddenly did something extraordinary. She let out a small hissing noise of discomfort, and dragged her three good legs underneath her. Grinding her teeth together, she pushed up against the cave floor until she stood unsteadily on three legs, her fourth hanging lifelessly, bound by some kind of plant. Fire Opal quickly stepped to her side and offered a shoulder to support her, but the injured she-cat brushed her away. She took a few tottering steps—her first since her accident—and made her way towards the Western Kingdom cats so she could look them squarely in the eyes.<p>

"My name is Moon's Light," said the she-cat, lifting her head in fierce, gritty pride. "And I think I might be able to help you with that."


	11. Chapter 9: Long Live The Kings

_There is a power in taking  
>But more pride in giving<br>There is a power in revenge  
>But more courage in forgiving<br>There is a power in destroying  
>But more honour in letting things be<br>There is a power in denying our age  
>But more happiness in showing that we've lived.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows, 8****th**** Sun**

"In the beginning there was nothing but darkness. Then from out of the darkness, the mighty Snow Leopard and her lesser companion the Mountain Wolf was formed, and She brought forwards the world and the stars. Then She called life from the creation-snows on the peak of where the earth and the stars touch, and from that life created our Father and Mother, the mighty Mitternacht and his mate, fairest of all cats, Felidae."

Rain Cloud had her muzzle tipped upwards towards the darkening sky, where the very first stars were beginning to glitter. Following the tradition of all elections, as the oldest member of the council she was retelling the story of the Kingdom's origin, to remind all the gathered cats of how insignificant their abilities were compared to the power of the Leopard. It dated back to very ancient times and was supposedly intended to keep the Kings and Queens humble and pious, though whether or not it was successful was unclear. Kingdom cats were pragmatic in their faith; generally it was agreed that while the Snow Leopard certainly existed, she was unlikely to care about what they did or didn't do. Still, tradition was tradition, and Drifting Snowflakes knew that there would be an uproar if anyone had dared to suggest that the speech had become obsolete.

"Felidae and Mitternacht had many litters of kits, and their kits were every size, shape and colour a cat could be. The cats ranged far and wide across the world, and such was their speed and intelligence that they quickly dominated all life in the world."  
>Here Rain Cloud paused patiently to allow the snickers that invariably broke out at this part of the story. Kingdom cats might be fast and smart, but so were most other things in the mountains, and predation was the third most common cause of death among them. Once the mocking had died down, she continued.<p>

"But eventually the cats grew so numerous that there was a danger that they would destroy everything else. And as all the prey began to die, the cats came into conflict with each other, and began to fight. The same gifts that made them excellent hunters also made them ferocious warriors, and soon the streams ran red with blood and the fields were littered with carrion. Starvation took its own toll and it began to look as though there would be nothing left on the earth.  
>"Mitternacht watched with sorrow as his children tore themselves to pieces, and he leapt into the stars to beg the Snow Leopard for aid.<br>"O Great One," he said, "please help my kits. This war will not stop until every cat in the world is dead."

The Snow Leopard shook her head. "They have misused the earth they live on. Instead of hunting carefully and sparingly, to ensure the prey would last forever, they killed constantly, and in doing so have ruined the world. Now that there is nothing else left, they are slaying each other with the weapons I gave them. Why should I give them aid, when all they will do is waste it?"  
>At these words Mitternacht came very close to despair, but he held his head high and said, "But, Great One, it need not be so. You can teach them another way, show them another path. The glory of the Leopard shall be their guide."<p>

The Snow Leopard blinked her cold eyes. "I have no need to interfere with mortals, Mitternacht," she said. "They are not my playthings, any more than I am their saviour. I have given you, and all creatures, everything that they need—and still they ask for more! I have given the eagle giant wings with which he can traverse the stars, yet he asks me for fair winds. I have given the wolf the senses and intelligence to bring down any prey in the world, yet she howls at me in fury when she cannot scent prey. And I gave you, and your children, sharp claws and strong teeth and eyes that can see in the dark, yet still you think I have not done enough. If I gave you everything you wanted, Mitternacht, what would be the point of life? Why would you even bother to leave your nest? Your kits can be saved, but it is your duty, and theirs, to find out what that is." And with that, she vanished.

Mitternacht did nothing but sit and think for a time, pondering the Snow Leopard's words. Instead of grieving, he felt hope. The Great One had said that his kits could be saved. He just needed to think of a way how. Then, after many long hours of thought, he knew the answer.  
>He travelled to the mountains, not the mountains where he had been born but to these mountains where we stand, and called all cats in the world to him with a mighty yowl.<br>The group of cats that stood beneath him were small, emaciated, and blood-stained, yet their eyes still shone with violence. Mitternacht shook his head as he watched them, and spoke.  
>"My children—you have failed me. The Snow Leopard has turned her back on us, and says that we have destroyed the world."<p>

At this, the cats all fell silent, their horror clear on their faces. Mitternacht continued. "But not all hope is lost. There is a way that the world can be healed; that we can be saved.  
>"A cat must hunt and kill to live; there is just no other way. But we can be better. We can hunt only when we are hungry and in need of food, not just because we can. Our fighting serves no purpose, but these lands cannot support us all living as one.<br>"Henceforth I, Mitternacht, Father of the Cats, bring forth a new order. Today marks the dawn of the Mountain Kingdoms. There shall be four—the fierce North, the mysterious South, the proud East and the lonely West. These mountains will be the one and only domain of the cats; they offer hunting rich enough to support us, yet they are also harsh enough to keep us from becoming as strong as we once were. And today we also take the path of the Snow Leopard, for her way is true and by following it we will come to a brighter future."

And from then onwards, it was the era of the Kingdoms."  
>For a little while there was silence among the council as all the cats digested the old story. Ultimately it was a sad one, as it told the simple truth that wherever cats were, blood would follow. But for the first time Drifting Snowflakes saw it as more than simple history. Between the lines of Mitternacht's speech, he seemed to be saying that there was hope for cats to change, and that cats could overcome their natures. But at the same time it was self-contradictory, as he even admitted himself that cats needed to be divided.<p>

But perhaps—perhaps—he had meant it differently. He had taken them to the mountains as a fail-safe; even the stupidest of cats had been able to see that for all his hopes and dreams, Mitternacht was a realist and knew that his children could not realistically be able to control their impulses, and had taken them to a place where cats would not be able to gain a permanent foothold no matter what. But now he was taking them, or some of them, elsewhere. The thought disturbed her. The mountains were her home, and she loved them, but as Drifting Snowflakes thought about it, she realised that she had no real desire to stay. The only thing that had kept the Kingdoms here for so many generations was that their Father had claimed that there was nowhere else to go.

But Mitternacht had _lied, _or seemingly so. The fact that they were leaving was proof enough that there were other places in the world that cats could live in. And clearly the black she-cat Holly Leaf was not a Kingdom cat.  
>Realizing that Rain Cloud was speaking again, she closed off her line of thought. Drifting Snowflakes twisted her head as she examined the duchess. Rain Cloud was a born storyteller; she loved myths and stories as others loved war. If anyone was capable able to understand Mitternacht's ambiguity, it would be her. Drifting Snowflakes made up her mind to ask her about it the moment these elections were finished.<p>

"The hierarchical succession was established so that the Kings and Queens of the future would be of elite blood and would have already been trained for the leadership role. However there are times when our rulers die and there are no cats ready to take their places. Thus it falls to the council of the dukes to decide which of us is most worthy to wear the mantle of royalty."  
>She paused. "Would all those who think themselves capable of leading the Western Kingdom stand beside me."<br>The oldest duke or duchess on the council were not allowed to nominate themselves, or to be chosen as the ruler's mate, to prevent the Kingdom leaders from being weak or infertile. But Drifting Snowflakes knew that Rain Cloud would not have nominated herself in any case.

Four cats stepped forwards, three males and one female; Dark Night was by far the most distinctive. Rain Cloud waited to ensure there were no more nominations, then cleared her throat.  
>"Before we move on to the initial voting, each nomination will make a speech to the council. The speech may be as long or as short as you wish, but as the impartial viewer"—Rain Cloud was not allowed to vote—"of this election, I would suggest that you leave nothing out. You may begin."<br>The first two speeches were long and flamboyant, and Drifting Snowflakes doubted anyone was really listening to them. Most of the dukes and duchesses would have already decided which candidate they were going to support. The third speech was much more concise and to the point, and the silver tabby thought that if Dark Night didn't get the nomination, this duchess wouldn't be a bad second choice.

Finally it was Dark Night's turn, and he came to the front and cast his eyes over them.  
>"I nominated myself for two reasons; the first I will tell you if I win. The second is that it's been an extremely long time since we have had a true leader. Though I have no disrespect for the dead I have to say, quite frankly, that Mountain's Shadow was a coward and a disgrace on the royal name." A sharp intake of breath met his words. He ignored it. "Bright Stars was a great Queen but she is also sadly lost to us due to the brutality of the Southern Kingdom—which, I'd like to remind the council, is partially due to Mountain's Shadow's decision to ignore the problem. I won't do that. I will never permit any spies on Western Kingdom land. We may never have the numbers required to take the Field, but we can make damn well sure that they'll never have the numbers to take us."<p>

He stepped away, and Drifting Snowflakes smiled inwardly at the irony in his words.  
>Rain Cloud nodded slowly. "Very well. The voting will now commence."<br>Drifting Snowflakes held her breath as the election progressed. To her immense relief, the first cat only got a smattering of votes, and the second got none at all; he flattened his ears in humiliation. The third cat was more worrisome; she had a charisma about him that made her seem very likeable, and she received a fair percentage. At last Rain Cloud read out Dark Night's name, and Drifting Snowflakes closed her eyes and stepped forwards, as cats did when they were voting for a candidate. For a moment she did not dare to open her eyes, but when she did she saw that half of the council had also stepped forwards—more than half! Elections were hardly ever this conclusive!

She glared at Dark Night—he'd known all along that there was no chance of him losing—who gave her a cool stare back. Perhaps he was the sort who believed that boasting would jinx his chances. Or maybe he had thought that she would nominate herself. The idea made her smile.  
>Rain Cloud did not hesitate before naming Dark Night as the new King of the Western Kingdom.<br>"And now, your Majesty," she said deferentially, "You must choose the she-cat who will run by your side, lead if you fall, and bear your kits to safeguard the future."  
>Dark Night ran his red gaze across every she-cat, then closed his eyes briefly in thought. Finally he smiled and stood somewhat taller.<p>

"If it pleases the council, I name Drifting Snowflakes as Queen of the Western Kingdom."


	12. Chapter 10: Never Let Me Go

_Sorrow, thy seat is on a heap of shattered hopes  
>Yet still you accompany the deserted souls<br>Sorrow, you are the truth on the passage of time  
>Yet still you accompany defeated minds<br>Sorrow, you have nothing to hold for morrows  
>But yet you reveal the hollowness of life<br>Sorrow, you hold the secrets of the dark  
>Yet still you remain elusive to those in the light.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows, 8****th**** Sun (same day, same time)**

"I still cannot believe you, Lightning Strike," Thunder's Roar snarled.  
>They were walking through one of the groves that lay close to the Northern Kingdom border, and in fury Thunder's Roar seemed larger than he ever had before. By contrast, Northern Lights was dawdling a few paces behind them, and appeared to be somewhat shrunken. Her soft eyes were distant as she gazed upon the giant mountain that sheltered the Northern Kingdom's dens. Behind her, their guardians followed, glancing occasionally at each other with unease.<br>Lightning Strike stared directly into his father's eyes. Although this was an aggressive move, the Prince did not see how he could make the King much angrier than he already was, and Lightning Strike was determined to hold his ground.

Thunder's Roar continued in a rising voice. "You snuck out of camp at a time when every stone could be hiding an assassin, you deliberately trespassed on Southern Kingdom land when Bright Stars is not even cold in the ground yet, you rendezvoused with _enemy cats—"_  
>"They aren't our enemies, Father."<br>"_Do not interrupt me!_ You consorted with the enemy, and then, what, you suddenly thought you'd been crowned a little early and decided to lead the whole Kingdom off to the Wolf knows where?How many Kingdom laws were you planning to break in a night?"  
>Lightning Strike did not lower his gaze. No matter what, he would not apologise. He had done what was right and if Thunder's Roar had experienced the same dreams he would have done exactly the same.<p>

Thunder's Roar paused to take a breath, and the ginger tabby took his chance. "Father, you act like I had a choice in all this. It was a choice between defying you or defying Mitternacht. And we don't have a choice about leaving, either! We'll all die if we stay…or are you suggesting that Mitternacht is a liar too?"  
>The King ground his teeth together, but he could not quite bring himself to insult the cats' hero. "Are you so certain it was Mitternacht?" he said finally. "You weren't being tricked in some way? Or dreaming?"<br>"He came to me in my dreams a few times. But when I saw him in the waking world, he was unmistakeable. If he had been a trick or a cheat, I would have known," insisted Lightning Strike.  
>Thunder's Roar shot a look at Northern Lights, evidently hoping she would help him win the argument. Instead the beautiful she-cat asked a different question.<p>

"If we leave, where will we go?"  
>"I don't know," he admitted. "I just assumed Mitternacht would tell us when the time came."<br>"Sweetheart!" said Thunder's Roar in horror. "You're not considering this?"  
>"I have just as much authority as you do, my dear," she reminded him calmly. "And I have the right to my own thoughts and opinions. I am not pleased that Lightning Strike left the territory, nor that he allowed Broken Heart to remain with him. But if Mitternacht had truly called him, then I don't see what there is to discuss."<p>

"It could be a trap," insisted the King. "They want to drive us off our land."  
>Northern Lights blinked. "Yes, because a small and virtually anarchical group of cats has the time and the state of mind to pull together such an elaborate trick for a piece of land that they can't access anyway. But as for all of us going—no. Not all will go, and I don't think that we have the right to force them."<br>"We are their King and Queen," he reminded her.  
>"We are King and Queen in these mountains," she corrected. "But something tells me that the place Mitternacht wants us to go to is not. And once outside our lands, we have no more authority than what other cats give us."<p>

Thunder's Roar thrashed his tail in frustration and shot Lightning Strike a glare as though it was his fault that the Queen had made up her mind already.  
>Lightning Strike decided to push his advantage. "Look, why don't you just come to the meeting tomorrow? Then you can talk to the Western Kingdom cats and make up your minds for sure."<br>"And meet them in the midst of Southern Kingdom territory?" snapped Thunder's Roar. With a sigh, Lightning Strike gave in, shaking his head. _We'll have to go alone, _he thought dismally, and hoped that Drifting Snowflakes had had better luck with her Kingdom. Tilting his head over his shoulder, he frowned and stopped as he noticed that Broken Heart and his parents' guardians had also drawn to a halt. His father's guardian, Flowing Stream, had been handpicked from the knights specifically for his keen sense of smell and intuition. He was extremely accurate when it came to discovering ambushes and traps, and he was sniffing around the clearing, his ears flat against his head. Reminded of how close they were to Northern Kingdom territory, Lightning Strike stepped back from his parents and drew closer to Broken Heart.

"Your Majesties," said Flowing Stream respectfully, "with no offence intended, but this area isn't safe. The border is very near and the Northern Kingdom cats are sure to be patrolling it after his Highness's victory. May I suggest that we go deeper within our territory?"  
>Thunder's Roar sighed and nodded. "Very well. We might just return to camp. It'll be full dark soon."<br>Lightning Strike looked up. The sky had turned into fiery swirl of red and orange, edged with soft indigo. The temperature was also dropping noticeably—nights fell swift and cold during Deep-Ice, and the thought of crossing the mountains without any place to shelter from the frigid winds made him shiver.  
>Perhaps his parents were thinking along similar lines, or perhaps the guardians' uneasy mood had affected them, for as they took the familiar winding trail back to camp the royals bunched together in single file, with the guardians flanking them. Lightning Strike tried to ease the atmosphere by giving Broken Heart a smile, but she did not respond, her ears pricked and her fur bristling.<br>Flowing Stream suddenly held his tail directly upright in the silent signal to stop. "I don't like this, your Majesties. Permission to scout ahead?"

Before either King or Queen could draw breath to answer him, a new voice spoke, one heavily accented.  
>"That one does be wise, Majesties, but his strength of mind did come too late to save tha."<br>There was a rustle, and at least thirty cats stepped out from behind a cluster of boulders that edged the path. Lightning Strike shuddered again, for the cat that blocked their path ahead of them was instantly recognizable if his mangled grasp of Kingdom tongue had not already given him away.  
>He was not particularly large, and his tail was no more than a minute stump—it was said that an <em>amenokti<em> had bitten it off when they'd fought over a kill. His flea-bitten brown fur was kinked and ragged, as though it had been torn out so many times that it could not find the motivation to grow straight anymore. But worst of all was his eyes. Like those of Dark Night's, they were red, but whereas Dark Night's eyes were otherwise that of a normal cat, this beast's stare blazed with a sadism so great that it bordered on insanity. Such was Cold Night, Midnight Snow's adopted son and heir to the throne of the Northern Kingdom. Though not a Kingdom cat by blood, he had stumbled onto Northern territory, met the King, and like had found like. Between the pair of them, no kit or maiden was safe from their desire to cause pain.

She-cats…the Prince looked around. They were all toms, except for one standing on Northern Lights' left. Her fur was white, streaked with dried blood and dirt. She turned her head towards him, and he gasped, for her left eye had been torn out, leaving only an oozing wound that swallowed what had once been a beautiful face.  
>"Ice Storm," he whispered, and she glared at him with her awful face, her one good eye shadowed with pain and bitterness.<br>Midnight Snow did not accept failure from his knights, even his own kits.  
>Thunder's Roar was speaking, anger swelling him to twice his size.<br>"Traitors! _Ignavi!_ Dare you call yourselves cats?" he spat. "_Vervloek vobis!"_

__Cold Night merely snickered. "Na na na, save tha breath, King. This one is no idiotic she-cat to be fooled by advance guards and fire-words." He glanced at Ice Storm, who turned away from him, her shoulders bowed. "Had that one been this one's own blood, her flesh would now feed carrionbirds. But the Snowking says to this one that those of trueblood deserve redemption before being sacrificed to tha Great One, she-cat or no."  
>"The Snow Leopard is a she-cat, and one of the laws that she and the Mountain Wolf gave us was that they did not want flesh sacrifices," whispered Northern Lights, her face a mask of horror and pity. Cold Night ignored her, and the knights tightened around the royals.<br>"Any last words, King?" sneered the beast.  
>"Only that I am glad to have seen true evil before I die, so that I will recognise and destroy it if I see it in the Wolf's Kingdom."<p>

With a snarl the beast leaped towards him, and the clearing exploded. Lightning Strike felt teeth fasten in his shoulder, and without a thought he threw himself backwards towards the presence. The resulting collision jarred his shoulderblade as it slammed into his foe, but it had worked, for the enemy knight had released him. Lightning Strike recovered first and lashed out with a mighty hind kick directly into the knight's chest. There was a series of sharp cracks and then a gurgling noise, as the Prince turned in time to see the knight choke to death on his own blood. Even as the cat tumbled to the ground, Lightning Strike saw the glint of starlight on stone as a claw scythed towards him. He ducked the first blow, but his new opponent was as fast as the wind and he only had time to turn and present his less-vulnerable back to the new knight. Wincing as the reinforced claws sliced into him, the Prince kicked again, this time aiming for his enemy's legs. It was dodged easily but it gave him time to rear up and crash down with his bodyweight on the smaller cat. It tried desperately to bite his throat as he smashed into it, but its head snapped back and crunched into a rock. Whether it was dead or just unconscious, Lightning Strike didn't know, and there was no time to find out, for a third, small cat sprang onto his back. Taken by surprise, he rolled, but the cat jumped clear and hooked its fangs into his throat.

_I'm done for, _he thought, trying and failing to get a breath of air, but strangely the pressure on his neck loosened suddenly. He looked up to see Broken Heart shaking the knight between her teeth like a _canaver _did a rat. Finally she dropped its body and met Lightning Strike's gaze. She was injured; blood streamed from a serious wound in her belly, and the tip of her ear was split. He himself felt fluid trickle from deep wounds in his neck, and the slash on his back, but he didn't feel any pain as his adrenaline rushed through him.  
>"I'm sorry," he said to her simply, though for what for he didn't know. Sorry that he had bound her life to his, so that she died when he did? Or sorry that they would never see the new home that Mitternacht had promised them? There seemed no chance that they could win, for the Northern Kingdom cats seemed as numerous as they had at the start, while Northern Lights' guardian lay in a scarlet pool a few lengths away from them.<p>

But it was not quite the end of their dream—not quite. The royals would die, but Hollow Tree remained, and Lightning Strike felt sure that he could muster up enough votes to become King and lead the Eastern Kingdom to safety. With that thought in mind, he straightened his shoulders, and looked at Broken Heart, who clearly had a similar mindframe.  
>"Once more unto the breach, dear sister?" he asked her, and she gave him her fierce grin. He looked around for Cold Night, and found him watching the battle from some distance away. His muzzle was dripping red, and Lightning Strike felt rage build within him as he threw himself onto the beast. They struggled together briefly, before Cold Night stabbed into his side with a brutal claw. By this time Broken Heart had arrived, and she raked his spine, distracting the beast long enough for Lightning Strike to pull free and bite into the beast's head. However, instead of turning to shake of Lightning Strike, as the two young Eastern Kingdom cats had expected him to do, the beast continued to fight Broken Heart, seemingly oblivious to Lightning Strike's teeth. He lunged forwards and smashed her aside with ease, and she tumbled away through scarlet-stained snow and gravel to lay quite still. Lightning Strike gave a horrified cry, for though they had known they would die he had always expected to be the one to die first. But his moment of grief for the she-cat became his undoing, for the beast wrenched the Prince's head back so tightly he tore several ligaments in his neck. Lightning Strike twisted, trying to break free, but the beast's grip only tightened and a weakness seemed to be clouding his brain. Cold Night's claws travelled gently up towards his eyes, and Lightning Strike squeezed them shut, accepting that he would be maimed before he was killed. He would do his best not to scream.<p>

Suddenly the beast let out a snarl of half-rage, half-fury, before suddenly shrieking so loudly that the rest of the battle froze. And again the strain on Lightning Strike's neck faded as Cold Night slumped lifelessly to the ground. Lightning Strike collapsed too, coughing and retching as he tried to get air into his darkening mind. If anyone had wanted to kill him then, they would have found it quite easy to do so, but strangely no-one came.  
>When he felt strong enough, he looked up, and gazed directly into a white, mangled face.<br>"Ice Storm…why?" he whispered.  
>She turned her head away from him, and he thought of something Mitternacht had said to Hollow Tree upon seeing him.<br>_"…Yes. You are not what I originally had in mind…"  
><em>"It was you," he breathed. "You were supposed to be the fifth cat."  
>She said nothing. Lightning Strike struggled to his feet, looking into her face.<br>"Why didn't you come, Ice Storm?" he asked gently. "You would have been free."

The bitterness returned to the once proud she-cat's eye, but when she spoke, her tone was soft.  
>"You should have killed me."<br>"Go to the Western Kingdom," he said desperately. "There is a she-cat there, an _ameslari_. She can help you."  
>Ice Storm blinked. "Tend to your guardian. She will be all you have left." Turning away from him, she walked through the bloodied snow and disappeared into the growing darkness. No-one ever saw her again.<br>Lightning Strike swung around and leaped to his foster-sister's side. To his tremendous relief, her side rose and fell shallowly, and he bent down to lick her awake. She let out a small groan of pain.  
>"Lightning Strike? Did we…did we win?"<br>The ginger tabby looked around. There was no sign of any Northern Kingdom cats, apart from the dead, but there were many deep pawprints that suggested they had ran away. Lightning Strike reminded himself that just because a Kingdom's ruler and heir were sadistic did not mean that the rest of them were, too.

"Looks like it," he said. He cast his eyes around the bodies. "Flowing Stream and Cool Breeze are dead," he murmured. Broken Heart let out a sigh. "And their Majesties?"  
>The Prince looked around again. In the darkness he could make out Thunder's Roar, crouched by something. He padded over to his father's side, then stopped and let out a wail, for a blue-grey form was at his paws. Collapsing next to his dying mother, he glanced at the King, whose face was like stone, his eyes unseeing—like his mate's had been, less than an hour ago.<br>Northern Lights sighed deeply, and her eyes, still bright, shone with a melancholy affection. "My brave, beautiful son," she purred gently. "I am so proud of you, do you know that? I should have told you that more often."  
>Lightning Strike pressed his nose into her fur. A storm of grief and terror was building in his mind, but somehow he held it at bay. "I love you, Mother."<br>She smiled at him. "Tell Broken Heart that I loved her as well…Thunder's Roar."  
>He didn't move, his face still as blank and empty as that of his guardian, lying dead a few lengths away.<p>

"My dear. You must go to this meeting with the Western Kingdom. Not for me, but for life itself. For the kits, and their kits. Though these mountains have sheltered us, they are no place for cats. They belong to the _canaver, _the _sova_ and the _shuri tora _and even the_ amenokti, _but not us. Go."  
>"Where, my love?" was all he said.<br>"I do not know where it is, but I can see it." Her green eyes faded a little, but a smile curled her lips. "I see plants and a river winding its way through an open meadow. I see…I see _trees_…"  
>"That is Valta, the Wolf's Kingdom," Thunder's Roar said gently. "It is waiting for you."<br>"That too," she agreed. Turning her head slightly, she said to Lightning Strike, "My son, if and when you have kits of your own, do not let them be. Cherish them; spend every free moment you have with them. My one regret in this life is not raising you as my own. Wolf guide and keep you, little one."

And with that, the last flecks of light faded from her eyes, and Lightning Strike felt her _cyth _slip away.  
>Thunder's Roar shivered slightly, and drew his tongue over her ear. "Goodbye, my beautiful Northern Lights," he murmured, before climbing to his paws and stumbling away. Lightning Strike looked for Broken Heart, and his own heart lightened just a little when he saw that she was standing and seemed steady on her paws. Her eyes glinted with grief, but she said nothing, merely pressing her nose into his cheek before the two of them followed Thunder's Roar back to the camp. Lightning Strike had no memory of what happened when they got there; the storm of grief was flooding him. All he remembered of that night were his dreams. He was being hunted in a dark forest by the <em>arima <em>of Cold Night, but every time the beast got too close to him, Broken Heart and the strange she-cat Holly Leaf would appear at his side and drive the monster back with shining claws.


	13. Chapter 11: The Knight and the King

_And sly as snow and meek as dew blown to the thorn,__  
><em>_This night and each vast night until the stern bell talks__  
><em>_In the tower and tolls to sleep over the stalls__  
><em>_Of the hearthstone tales my own, lost love; and the soul walks__  
><em>_The waters shorn.__  
><em>_This night and each night since the falling star you were born,__  
><em>_Ever and ever he finds a way, as the snow falls,  
>As the rain falls, hail on the fleece, as the vale mist rides<em>_  
><em>_Through the haygold stalls, as the dew falls on the wind-__  
><em>_Milled dust of the apple tree and the pounded islands__  
><em>_Of the morning leaves, as the star falls, as the winged__  
><em>_Apple seed glides,__  
><em>_And falls, and flowers in the yawning wound at our sides,__  
><em>_As the world falls, silent as the cyclone of silence._

**Moon of Blue Snows, 10****th**** Sun**

The air was cold and misty on the night of the arranged meeting between the Eastern and Western Kingdoms. Moisture beaded the fur of Lightning Strike, his father, Hollow Tree and Broken Heart as they walked through their territory towards the glade of tranquillity.  
>The fog swirled above and around them to create an illusion of walking on clouds, and Lightning Strike felt strangely soothed by it. Though the fog would not aid them if enemies struck again, it would help hide their own scent. Hopefully any would-be ambushers would not be expecting the King and his only child to walk with only one guardian.<p>

A light gust of wind blew through the mountains, and Lightning Strike stopped and shivered, for with it came the decaying scent of Northern Lights. Only Southern Kingdom cats buried their dead; no other Kingdom had enough earth in their territory to do so. Instead, they simply let the bodies lie in the open for the carrionbirds, as a way of returning to nature what they took with their lives.  
>Thunder's Roar caught scent of his beloved mate as well, and a series of shudders ran down his spine before he forced himself to move on. Lightning Strike found himself resenting his father's coldness. Now that Northern Lights was gone, he was hoping Thunder's Roar might begin acting more like a parent—instead, he had only drawn further away. The Prince knew that it was the King's way of dealing with his loss. Indeed, the only emotion he had shown was rage, when the Eastern Kingdom council had urged him to choose a new mate from their ranks.<p>

"I have a _son_!" he had bellowed, causing the birds to flap from their rocky perches in shock. "Is that not enough for you? Must I reject Northern Lights' memory when her bones aren't white in the sun yet?"  
>Lightning Strike let out a deep sigh, grief clouding his vision much like the mist shrouding the path ahead.<br>_Mother.  
><em>He felt a warmth at his side, and Broken Heart gently licked his ear.  
><em>I'm still here, <em>he knew she was saying.  
><em>And thank the Wolf for that.<em>

__As much as he hated to think it, his mother's death had served a purpose. It had convinced Thunder's Roar to leave. The morning after the ambush, he had announced it to the Kingdom. He had disregarded the council's protests and arguments, ignored the worried faces of the knights, and did not see the horror of the maidens. Lightning Strike knew that if it weren't for Northern Lights' dying wish, Thunder's Roar would never have agreed to leave the mountains.  
>"Which way, Lightning Strike?" the King said suddenly, drawing to a halt at the border of their territory. The ginger tabby inhaled deeply, searching for a trace of his own scent. Snow and wind had done much to wear it away, and he looked at Broken Heart, who had a better sense of smell than he did. She was already scenting the ground, and a flicker of a smile flashed across her face as she took the lead, her ears pricked for danger as she followed the smell only she could track.<p>

To tear his thoughts away from his mother, Lightning Strike began to think about the Southern Kingdom. They were odd cats. Sometimes they seemed good, other times—such as when they were exterminating the Western Kingdom—they seemed worse than the North. Yet in the ancient, early days of the Kingdoms, they were the only cats who never performed flesh sacrifices.  
>"We're here," Broken Heart whispered softly, and as he took a few more steps forward Lightning Strike felt the soft, calm air of the glade descend upon him. It acted like cool water on a grazed paw, and Lightning Strike felt the empty pain within him ease slightly.<br>The Western Kingdom cats were already waiting, and with them, stood two cats he'd never met before. One was a sleek tortoiseshell she-cat with strange, glittering eyes, the other was a pale grey. The Prince felt his spirits lift slightly as he noticed Drifting Snowflakes, who inclined her head to him. He nodded respectfully to Dark Night and Rain Cloud, and they returned the greeting. Thunder's Roar did not bother with the niceties.

"You are the dukes and duchesses?" he said in his deep mew.  
>"I am the King of the Western Kingdom," replied Dark Night haughtily, "and Drifting Snowflakes is Queen."<br>Shocked, Lightning Strike gaped at the silver tabby, who hunched her shoulders in embarrassment. Yet there did seem to be an aura of confidence about her that he didn't remember being there last time. Of course, there was no reason _not _to choose her as Queen, but she hadn't struck him as the sort of cat to accept such an offer.  
>Thunder's Roar sighed and sat down. "My apologies," he said in a more friendly tone. "King Dark Night, Queen Drifting Snowflakes, thank you for meeting us here at such a late hour in…unfriendly territory."<p>

Broken Heart rolled her eyes at Lightning Strike, and he fought a grin. It sounded as though the meeting was Thunder's Roar's idea.  
>"Where is the Queen?" Drifting Snowflakes asked, but softly, as though she had an inkling already.<br>"Dead," said the Eastern King brusquely. "We were ambushed by a Northern patrol. I believe it was meant to be the same sort of tactics that destroyed your own royals. However, we managed to defeat them, but not without great cost. On her last breath, my mate commanded me to come to this meeting." He spoke formally, as though the events had happened to someone else.  
>"Our sorrow for yours," Dark Night said. "But—forgive me—really, this is another reason why these mountains are no longer a safe place to call home. The Kingdoms of the North and South have lost their honour. They are not fit to be called cat."<p>

"It is even so," agreed Thunder's Roar. "But even traitors may mend their ways. I've known one who did. The other Kingdoms have always been less honourable than us, with the exception of the South under certain royals. Cowardly violence has been their strategy for many years, and we've always survived before. Why should we leave our territories, the ones that Mitternacht himself led us to? Granted, they are not the most fruitful of lands, and life is harsh, but it is this difficulty that makes us such great warriors. I would rather stay and face whatever disaster is heading towards us than become as fat and spoiled as an _amenokti._"

Lightning Strike tuned out. He knew that his father would want to get a better measure of the Western royals before he would agree to anything, and the only way that would happen was through a lot of talk. Broken Heart was wearing her guardian's face, the one where she looked attentive without actually listening to what was being said. Being oblivious was one of the required skills of a guardian. Only Hollow Tree continued to pay attention, his ears pricked forwards in obvious interest.

The Western duchess, Rain Cloud, was already walking several paces away from her group. That was the way of things. Kings and Queens conducted Kingdom business, and all lesser ranks were expected to keep quiet and out of the way. Lightning Strike padded towards her, glancing across to the two she-cats sitting behind Drifting Snowflakes. He guessed one of them must be the _ameslari _they had mentioned in the previous meeting, and made a mental note to ask her about Ice Storm.  
>When he approached Rain Cloud, the old she-cat looked up. "Yes?" she rasped, neither friendly nor hostile.<p>

"I'm surprised you managed to choose your leaders so quickly," he said, keeping his tone neutral. "I thought the process could take more than a moon."  
>"Drifting Snowflakes did not nominate herself, young one," she replied. "She was chosen as the King's mate, so you'd best keep well away."<br>Lightning Strike bit his lip, startled at the duchess's perception. "I won't," he said finally, and sat down next to her. "Which she-cat is the _ameslari_?"  
>"The tortoiseshell. Fire Opal. Your mother was killed by Cold Night?"<br>"Yes," he said sorrowfully.

The black-and-white cat inclined her head. "I remember the day I met him," she mewed thoughtfully. "Well before you were even a squire, Prince. This was before he joined the Northern Kingdom, of course."  
>"What was he like?"<br>"To me, he was polite and charming, though he could hardly speak a word of our tongue. He could tell I was a figure of authority; he had a very good sense about those sorts of things. But there was a… scent within him. Like rotting carrion, or an infected wound. I didn't know it until I met Midnight Snow, but it was the scent of madness, and I do not understand how a she-cat could let such a scent grow to adulthood."  
>"How did he join the Northern Kingdom?" asked Lightning Strike, hungry for details, wanting to find more reasons to hate the beast.<p>

"He was a _ver _at first, as wandering was in his blood. He picked up tattered scraps of our language by following patrols and I think he noticed the way that Kings had such power over the rest of their subjects. That was when I met him, as he was looking to join a Kingdom. Oh, yes, very charming indeed. He was handsome and chivalrous. But I was young and did not have the authority to say yea or nay to his joining, and he departed as soon as he knew it."  
>"Handsome? With his fur, and without a tail?"<br>"At that time he had both in immaculate condition. Those injuries were inflicted upon him when he met Midnight Snow."  
>"I thought an <em>amenokti <em>bit it off."

"So he would have you believe, but I have an…acquaintance…among one of the Northern maidens, who was a knight at the time, and she remembers it clearly. You have never met Midnight Snow, but if you do you will see why Cold Night—though he had a different name then—aroused such a fury in him. The Northern King was cursed with a terrible face and such was his mindset that he loathed beauty in all its forms. Upon meeting him for the first time, he attacked him and mutilated him. But the King was impressed by his courage, and after they had talked for a few minutes, he recognised that here was the son he never had. I don't know if he ever regretted biting off the beast's tail. Probably not, knowing him."  
>"He spoke of flesh sacrifices," Lightning Strike said in a low voice. "Of killing worthless she-cats and giving them to the Snow Leopard."<p>

"Not to the Snow Leopard," rumbled Rain Cloud. "Midnight Snow has turned away from her. They worship a darker lord now. Those cats could not bear to follow a female. But it would not surprise me to hear that they've returned to the old ways as well."  
>"I don't remember why we stopped the flesh sacrifices," admitted the Prince. "Only that it was an order by the Wolf."<br>Rain Cloud curled her lip. "Young cats! They think that the tales are nothing but kit stories. You are a Prince and you don't know your Kingdom's history. You should be ashamed of yourself."  
>For the first time since his mother's death Lightning Strike laughed. "I'm pretty sure Thunder's Roar wouldn't know them either. But can you tell me? Did Mitternacht come to the Kingdoms?"<br>"Not Mitternacht. It was Felidae. And no, I won't tell you the _story_. It's long and this is neither the place nor the time."

"Felidae?" he asked curiously. "There aren't many stories—uh, tales about her at all."  
>"No, and there is a reason for that as well, but like I said, this is not the place for narration. Hush and look to your Kingdom."<em><br>_Startled, Lightning Strike looked up, and heard his father's rumble.  
>"Well, I thank you for meeting me here, but it seems we cannot come to an agreement. Should your Kingdom choose to travel, I wish you all the best." He looked towards Lightning Strike. "Come, then."<br>"Father—" he began to protest.  
>"Your Majesty," came a new voice, cold and strong and strangely familiar.<p>

All cats turned and looked at the small grey she-cat, who had stepped forwards, her pale eyes narrowed. "My name is Moon's Light. I was once a knight of your Kingdom."  
>Ice flooded the Prince's veins as a flash of memory burned through his brain.<br>"_Please, your Highness…please."  
><em>She lifted her head to meet his stare. All her terror and obedience had fled from her gaze. The only emotion that was left was hatred. He turned his head away, feeling guilt swamp him and make him want to throw up. She let out a snort of contempt and looked towards Thunder's Roar, who was as impassive as always.

"Your Majesty, your son sentenced me to death by _zhertva._ And I did it. Looking back, I don't know why. I was young and whole and I had a long life ahead of me, and your _child_ was willing to give that up to win a small patch of land that wouldn't feed a single cat."  
>"He sacrificed you so that the rest of his knights would not follow," he replied, almost as if the topic bored him.<br>"It wasn't necessary. He started the fight. He was the one who wanted to attack."  
>Thunder's Roar narrowed his eyes. "Little one, if you came here to curse our names and make us regret the decisions of our lives, you will have to do better than indignation and anger. I don't force cats to stay in my Kingdom; they are free to go as they please. But when you do stay, you follow the orders of the ruling class."<p>

"Go? Go where? Straight into the claws of a _shuri tor? _My point is not my anger, great though it is. My point is that you, as a King, have a duty to your subjects to care for them and make their lives better. Do you know how many kits survive to become knights? One third. Out of all the kits born in a Kingdom, only one third of them will live to have their own kits." Her voice strengthened. "If we lived elsewhere, your mate wouldn't be dead, and neither would your two other kits. You've been offered a chance for all the cats under your care to lead better lives, and you're going to give that up because you think it'll be too _easy. _Well—ask your maidens, then, which they would prefer. They have the hardest task of all, sending kits out into the world to die awful deaths, but they never complain.

What makes a King? You do not rule over the sky, or the streams, or the seasons. The idea of ruling the mountains is strange to me. This isn't our home; it's our prison, our punishment from Mitternacht for forsaking our gifts. I'm just a knight, so I don't understand why we choose to stay. I don't understand why I see the bodies of cats who could have led long, fruitful lives scattered across a plain like pebbles. The sun hurts my eyes when it reflects off snow. The wind burns my fur. The Deep-Ices are too cold and the Bright-Suns are too hot. It feels like every part of this world wants me to leave it. Why do we stay? Faith? Mitternacht asks us to leave. Honour? The other Kingdoms have abandoned it. Fear? Perhaps, but if you stay here just because you don't know where to go then you shouldn't be a King."

Silence reigned over the glade of tranquillity as every cat stopped to think about her words. Finally Thunder's Roar spoke.  
>"I am no coward, and if you call me one again then I will challenge you to fight me and we will see who is braver. But—your other words ring true. I will think over what you have said tonight. Tomorrow, at sunset, if I have decided to travel with you then I and my Kingdom—those who choose to come—will be there. If I do not appear by the time the sun has disappeared, you will know my answer. Farewell."<br>He climbed to his paws and walked away. Lightning Strike quickly said goodbye to Rain Cloud, who was looking thoughtful, and joined up with Broken Heart and Hollow Tree. None of them spoke as they followed the King back to his throne.


	14. Chapter 12: Drifting Snowflakes

_Whose world this is I think I know.__  
><em>_His house is in the village, though;__  
><em>_He will not see me stopping here__  
><em>_To watch his world fill up with snow.  
>Between the trees and the frozen lake<em>_  
><em>_On the darkest evening of the year  
>This world is lovely, dark, and deep,<em>_  
><em>_But I have promises to keep,__  
><em>_And miles to go before I sleep,__  
><em>_And miles to go before I sleep._

**Moon of Blue Snows, 11****th**** Sun  
><strong> 

Drifting Snowflakes shivered as a cold and icy wind buffered her fur.  
>She was padding through a dark cave, guided on by a glowing blue light that lit a path beneath her paws. Towards the sides of the blue road, stalactites of ice grew through the ceiling and stalagmites of rock pierced through the almost invisible ground to her side. Dimly she was aware of how frigid the cave was, chilled enough that another creature would have died of cold long ago, but she felt only the edge of the wind as she walked onwards. She stopped to look down at herself, and choked on a gasp of horror as she realised that her body was not solid at all, but composed purely of some sort of silver light that swirled in the illusion of cat-fur. She was no more corporal than the blue track she followed.<p>

"Come, Silvermoon. There is no need to fear this cave," came a soft voice from somewhere deeper down the path, and Drifting Snowflakes wrenched her gaze away from her empty form to look ahead.  
>It was a cat, one that resembled a beast that in Drifting Snowflakes' mountain home was known as a <em>vaşaq, <em>or a bobcat. The bobcat and the Kingdom cat were as distinct from one another as night and day—they barely spoke the same language, and had very little to do with one another. But this cat had a different, less vicious face than the _vaşaq; _in fact, he was almost comical, with his tiny face and huge cheeks, as well as his almost non-existent tail and heavy back legs. But a dignity clung to him and he jerked his mottled head towards the blue path before continuing in his soft accent: "It's not far now."

_Where am I? _the Queen wanted to cry, but try as she might she could not get her mouth to move. She dumbly followed the cat, who she decided to call a _chantame, _meaning "gentle one."  
>They walked for a time, the cave growing colder and colder around them until at last the <em>chantame<em> stopped in front of a glowing pillar. Drifting Snowflakes searched for a light source, but could not find one.  
>The <em>chantame<em>gestured with a paw to a small indent in the pillar. "You rest your head into this hollow," he said in his sweet voice, "and your ancestors will send you dreams. If they find you worthy, they will grant you the name and nine lives of a true Clan leader. If they do not, they will tell you the name of the cat who deserves it more than you do. But don't worry, Silvermoon, that hasn't happened yet." He cocked his head at her. "You know, you remind me of a certain cat who came here many, many seasons ago. Her name was Snowdrift. Yes. The spitting image." He backed up a few paces. "Don't be frightened—go on."

Unable to think of anything else to do, Drifting Snowflakes/Silvermoon stepped up to the glowing pillar and placed her head into the hollow. The freezing touch of the rock was so great that she let out a gasp. Dimly she was aware that the _chantame _was saying something comfortingly, but ice seemed to be building up inside her ears and she couldn't make out any words. The ice continued to grow until her eyes froze over and closed, and she was aware of nothing but cold and darkness.  
>For a timeless moment, all life and light in the world had vanished; there was nothing but icy loss, as Drifting Snowflakes lay suspended in a void of nothing. But then a slight glow of warmth began to heat her paws, and it travelled up through her stomach and melted the ice growing inside her. When she felt pleasantly warm she opened her eyes and found herself lying in a green forest clearing very much like the one that she had met Mitternacht in.<br>"Mitternacht?" she called and sat up, but the cat-lord, if he was there, made no response. But she could feel gentle breeze whispering through her fur, and she felt deeply at home.  
>Turning to pull the scents of the clearing through the scent glands in her mouth, the silver tabby was startled to find a earth-brown cat lying in the grass, watching her. He was extremely handsome in a very obvious way, as opposed to the more subtle looks of Lightning Strike, who was such that his beauty was not what you noticed first about him.<p>

"Hello," she said, puzzled by the intensity in his dark eyes. "What's your name?"  
>"I?" he smiled. "This one do be called Rhangori, Majesty."<br>She frowned. His accent was so thick and the words he used were so mispronounced that it was hard to make out what he was saying. "Rhangori?" she said, just to be sure.  
>"Aye."<br>Drifting Snowflakes edged a few steps away from him. Something about this cat made her nervous. "Why are you here, Rhangori?"  
>"Why must it be a particular reason for anybeast to walk anywhere, Majesty? Perhaps this one came here because this one did walk and fell upon it. Or perhaps this one was looking for thee. Who could know?" He tipped his head. "Whatever reason, this one do be thy honoured servant in all worlds."<p>

She smiled. "That's very kind, but I don't need a servant. I have a whole Kingdom at my command, you know. Actually, I was wondering how to get home."  
>Rhangori turned to glance over his shoulder. "If tha wish it, thee will go."<br>A shadow fell across the forest glade. Suddenly the tom's eyes changed colour, and Drifting Snowflakes realised with dim shock that they were red, red as Dark Night's.  
>"Where do you be going, vermin she-cat?" Rhangori—Cold Night spat, jerking his head from side to side as though trying to listen and talk at the same time. "Where does tha be taking tha weaklingones?"<br>Drifting Snowflakes turned her back to run, but as soon as she did so he pounced on her. She let out a thin wail as she felt his strength and his teeth sank down into the fur above her neck—not a killing bite, but painful. She reared up and crashed onto her back to try and crush him, but he leaped free and swung to face her, his head kitsteps from her own.

"Na na na," he whispered, his breath reeking like carrion, "once fooled, twice wise. Tell tha black rat—the dreamwalker—tell it that this one do be growing weary of its meddling. Soon that one's blood shall fall like skywater. But first—this one shall give tha a gift of true pain, one thy shalt never forget, so that your firewords may burn stronger"—and he pulled back from the Queen and raised a paw, glinting with giant claws. Drifting Snowflakes tried to run, to pull away, to _do something, _but she was completely paralysed by a strange force. She let out a scream of agony as the claws burned past her cheek, and she felt blood soak her fur; she squeezed her eyes shut so as not to see the next blow when she heard a new sound.  
>It was a sound that had always struck fear into her heart, but now she was almost glad to hear it. As the <em>canaver's <em>howl rent the air, Rhangori—Cold Night let out a hiss of baffled fury. "_Why_?"  
>Drifting Snowflakes opened her eyes to see Rhangori in full battle with a giant silver wolf; the brown cat's face was distorted with hatred, more beast than the being he fought. Flashes of claws and the <em>cracks <em>of teeth and bone knocking together filled Drifting Snowflakes' eyes and ears, but then with a terrifying roar the _canaver _clamped her jaws over the back of the beastcat's head. Red fluid burst from the wounds, but somehow Rhangori pulled free, leaving gaping holes in his cheeks. He spared the time to throw one last livid glance at Drifting Snowflakes before he ran and disappeared into the trees.

The _canaver _looked up at the silver she-cat, and she bared her huge teeth. "Wake, you fool! It will return!"  
>With a shock the Queen realised that she was no longer paralysed; she began to run in the opposite direction but the wolf caught up to her in a few bounds. "Do not run! The beast fears me but his hatred of you is stronger. Leave—wake!"<br>"I'm trying!" Drifting Snowflakes cried, and screwed her eyes shut, willing herself to wake. But nothing happened, and Rhangori's sour scent was like ashes in her mouth.  
>"I'll take her back," said a new voice, also female, and familiar. Drifting Snowflakes looked to the speaker, and a surge of relief make her legs weak.<br>"Holly Leaf!" she croaked.

"The one and only," replied the dreamwalker grimly. She met the _canaver's _gaze with defiance and hostility. Watching the wolf, Drifting Snowflakes thought she saw something almost like tenderness in those golden eyes. But it passed swiftly, and wolves' expressions were naturally enigmatic so she could never be sure what she had seen. But the silver she-wolf dipped her head. "She is yours—do not let her wander again." And with that, the wolf followed Rhangori's path into the trees.  
>Holly Leaf nudged her. "Come on, I'll show you the way out," she murmured, and Drifting Snowflakes followed her gladly. They walked in another direction to the wolf and the beast, and it was several minutes before a question occurred to her.<br>"How did I get here?"  
>"You came here because you dreamed of dreaming," said the black she-cat distantly. "You came because the consciousness that you were sharing was sent to a place that did not exist in your time."<br>"Where is—here?"

Holly Leaf shook her head and seemed to awaken slightly.  
>"Hmm, that's tough. Well, you see—there's the living world, which is real, and where you come from, obviously. There's the world of the dead, which is also real, but not connected to this world in any way. Then there's here, which is not real in the sense that the others are. It has connections to the living world, but not to the dead. I just call it the dreamworld, because that's how most cats—and others—find their way here."<br>"But if it's not connected to the world of the dead, how'd you get here? I mean, you are dead, right? An _arima?"  
>"Arima <em>is just a word for a spirit who walks the dreamworld. I've never seen the world of the dead. Something keeps me from finding it. And that's why all the _arimas_ are here—like that wolf. I don't know if it's your gods, or someone else's, but they keep us in this purgatory. The only cats I know who can walk through all three realms are Mitternacht and Felidae. The rest of us can walk in the living world every now and again, but it takes up a lot of energy and you have to learn how to do it—it's quite difficult."

"Is that why you haven't been in the living world?"  
>"I have been there. You just didn't see me. But the main reason why I haven't been there as often as I might have liked is because I've been fighting Rhangori."<br>"That cat…why did he want to hurt me?"  
>Holly Leaf sighed. "His hatred is so great that he refuses to let go of life. He has seen what's going to happen to your Kingdoms, and he doesn't want the Eastern Kingdom—he blames them for his death—to escape. He draws strength from pain and suffering and he wants to maximise it. Fortunately Lightning Strike is a tom, and they can't stumble upon this place by accident; she-cats tend to be stronger in this sort of thing than males. Broken Heart has a practical slant of mind that protects her from entering this world, and he doesn't know about Hollow Tree. So he turned to you, because you have the strongest <em>cyth <em>of the cats and he knows that your pain will hurt Lightning Strike."

"Why didn't he just kill me?"  
>"He would have done so if he could, but you've got to remember, this world isn't real. You can suffer very badly, but you can't die or be permanently injured in any way. That's why I've been trying so hard to keep him from finding the way into the living world. If he could walk there, and cause suffering, there's no telling how strong he would be. Already he has more power than I, and it gets harder to defeat him."<br>"Will it be easier once we leave?"  
>"It might be better or it might be worse. Time and space don't really work the same way here. But we can always hope."<p>

"And who was that _canaver_? She seemed to know you."  
>Holly Leaf's spine bristled. "It doesn't matter anymore. Look, there's the way out…walk through there and you should wake up wherever you fell asleep."<br>The 'way out' was a dark, swirling hole in mid-air that shimmered slightly.  
>Drifting Snowflakes nudged the she-cat in thanks. "I don't remember coming this way."<br>"That's because you didn't. Most living walkers of this world can enter and leave wherever they want—Mitternacht brought you to that clearing earlier, which is why you went there, I think. But Rhangori is using his power to keep you from escaping through your mind, so we have to use this."  
>"Thanks again, Holly Leaf," Drifting Snowflakes murmured. "We'll be leaving tomorrow, at sunset, on the western border of our Kingdom."<br>Hollyleaf nodded. "I'll be there. I promise."  
>Drifting Snowflakes took a deep breath and stepped through the portal. Again she experienced that terrifying feeling of emptiness, then sunlight shone almost directly into her eyes and she became aware of a paw shaking her hard.<p>

"What do you want?" she mumbled groggily, for despite her sleep she felt as exhausted as though she'd fought in battle. The back of her neck stung, but without the blinding intensity it had in her dreams.  
>"Wake up, your Majesty. It'll be sunset soon and you're disturbing the other cats."<br>Drifting Snowflakes opened her eyes, using a paw to shield them from the sun. She looked up and saw Fire Opal's tortoiseshell face. Of course. No-one else would have dared touch a sleeping Queen.  
>The silver tabby climbed to her paws. "I disturb them?"<br>"Crying out and wailing and henceforth. Some thought you were possessed."  
>"I was dreaming," she murmured.<br>Fire Opal shook her head. "You weren't dreaming, your Majesty, you were seeing. If I'd known you could do that I would have stopped you entering the dreamworld long ago. Anyway, like I said, it's nearly sunset."

Drifting Snowflakes stretched and walked out of the royal den into the golden sunlight. The glittering rays helped chase away the last remnants of her dreams, and the pain in her neck subsided. The sun was just beginning to make its descent into the mountains, and a surge of energy bristled through her spine. _Tomorrow I will no longer be here.  
><em>She looked up and saw Dark Night padding towards her. "Are you well, Drifting Snowflakes?" he said politely. "You were restless in your sleep."  
>"Just a dream," she replied. "I'm sorry I slept so late."<br>"Don't be. I've been sleeping badly lately, too. Anyway, we should be heading off soon. The East, if they're coming, should be meeting us at the border soon."

Drifting Snowflakes nodded and let out a high-pitched yowl designed to summon all the cats who wished to leave. Most did, but some of the maidens with very young kits had decided to stay. They would make the shorter journey to the Eastern Kingdom, where Thunder's Roar had promised they would have a home, whether or not the East left.  
>The Western Kingdom set off, with some knights determined to leave their scent on every rock they came across. Drifting Snowflakes smiled at the enthusiasm of the pages and squires, who were leaping across hollows in the stone and chasing each other through the legs of other cats. They were incredibly excited and didn't really understand the seriousness of the situation. A few of the older squires did, though, and they kept close to the knights that mentored them.<p>

As they stopped by the scentline of their territory, the cats turned their backs on the great unknown and stared into the familiar depths of their land. Somehow the idea that she would never see it again was hard for Drifting Snowflakes to grasp. She thought of the few scattered trees, the hidden caves and lofty peaks, and realised once again that she did not really have anything left to hold her here. Her love of this land had died with Bright Stars.  
>A mew of greeting sounded in her ears, and Drifting Snowflakes looked up and saw Holly Leaf stepping daintily towards her, her outline hard to make out in the gathering shadows.<br>"Do you know where we're going?" the Queen asked the _arima. _Holly Leaf smiled and gestured with her tail to a small stream that chattered too quickly for Deep-Ice to freeze it.  
>"A very wise being told me that we should be more like the river. I thought about it, and decided that that's what we're going to do. Follow the river until it takes us to greener meadows."<br>"At least we won't die of thirst, then," murmured Drifting Snowflakes. Movement caught her eye and she smiled. "Look—"

All the Western Kingdom cats let out mews of greeting as the mass of the Eastern Kingdom stepped forwards to fill their ranks. She caught the eye of Lightning Strike, who dipped his head to her, and Broken Heart, who smiled. Hollow Tree kept aloof from them, his tail held high, firmly refusing to look back.  
>Thunder's Roar approached herself and Dark Night. "Which way, then?"<br>Dark Night looked at Holly Leaf, who padded over to the stream. "This way."  
>Thunder's Roar allowed himself one glance over his shoulder. "That's it, then. On we go."<br>Soft white flakes began to drift from the darkening sky. It was snowing.


	15. Chapter 13: Downriver

_So we will sing__  
><em>_Cast our hopes out to sea__  
><em>_Though our hearts break__  
><em>_Through violent winds, our ship will sail__  
><em>_I don't understand__  
><em>_How this world will work__  
><em>_But 'cause time will tell us nothing__  
><em>_I'll take a chance on something._

**Moon of Blue Snows, 11****th****-16****th**** Sun**

They had walked full into a Deep-Ice storm.  
>It was to be expected. To the north-east lay a vast lake, tucked between mountains, that the Kingdom cats had only vaguely heard about from wandering <em>ver. <em>As Deep-Ice reached its depths, the howling winds would pick up vast quantities of water, which would then freeze and collapse on the Kingdoms. Coupled with winds that surged faster than anything else they knew, it was a fatal combination. So deadly was it that the cats of the Northern Kingdom, fully exposed to the storm, retreated deep within their network of tunnels in a mountain and prayed that the snow would not block each entrance and suffocate them.

In a strange twist of fate, the stream Holly Leaf had chosen was perhaps the safest place to be if there was no shelter to be had. As the trickle of water steadily held its course west, down slopes, it deepened, forming a tiny gorge that kept the worst of the wind from them. But the cold was like a hunter in its own right, and the toll it took on the younger cats was terrible. The squires and pages, regardless of Kingdom, had bunched together so tightly that selecting an individual was impossible. They were surrounded by a buffer of thick-pelted knights that kept them alive and prevented wanderers. As the group of younglings traversed the icy storm wastes, their little huddle rotated ever-so-slightly in an instinctive behaviour to ensure that nobody had to walk on the outside for too long.

Hunting was out of the question. But the same winds that were bringing them death also ensured them a steady supply of food. The stream was one of the few sources of flowing water—snow alone was not enough—and they fed off the bodies of goats, rodents, and birds. One time they stumbled upon the frozen corpse of a _canaver. _Although the body was large enough that nearly every Kingdom cat could have had a bite, out of some vague ancestral memory they let the dead beast lie.

It was harsh enough going for ordinary cats. But Drifting Snowflakes had to fight battles in her sleep that were just as difficult. Cold Night hunted her mercilessly, and it was only Holly Leaf's constant vigilance that kept her unharmed. Worse still he was beginning to reach into the dreams of Broken Heart and Rain Cloud. Though neither had spoken to her, they had the strained, wary look of a prey animal—a feeling she remembered well. At least they didn't sleep deeply enough to risk Cold Night finding the link between the dreamworld and the living. If they stopped to rest, they would die. Instead, they slumbered for brief periods while walking, and the constant pattern of vivid nightmares and blasting reality drove her to exhaustion.

They crawled beneath the paws of the storm for nearly a week, leaving a trail of frozen bodies behind them, before abruptly the wind died away. Fearing that the hiatus was merely a signal that worse was still to come, the Kings and Queen had pulled their cats away from a stream and found a hollow in the side of a mountain that sheltered them from the cold. It was tight-fitting, but nobody complained, as the close proximity warmed them quickly. Nearly one hundred and thirty cats had left the Kingdoms; now their number was a little over one hundred, with most of the deaths coming from older knights and very young pages. Thunder's Roar, possibly now the oldest cat in the Kingdoms, with Rain Cloud not far behind him, lay very still in the depths of the cave. Only the slightest rise and fall of his chest kept him alive, with his bones giving him agony from the cold. Lightning Strike had taken over his role for the time being, noting which cats were healthiest and which ones were not.

Drifting Snowflakes padded over to him, trying to avoid stepping on cats' tails. He looked up and smiled, but distantly, as though his thoughts were elsewhere.  
>She gestured with her tail to the mouth of the cave. "I'm glad that's over," she said fervently. "I thought we were dead for sure."<br>He nodded. "A lot of us were, your majesty." His tone was formal.  
>She gave him a look. "Don't call me that."<br>He blinked. "But—"  
>"Drifting Snowflakes. That's an order."<p>

He ducked his head to hide a smile. "Okay. Drifting Snowflakes, do you know the story about the flesh sacrifices? Why they stopped them?"  
>"No, I don't," she mewed, puzzled. "Why would you want to know that?"<br>He shrugged his massive shoulders. "Just curious, and I didn't want to have my ears bitten off by Rain Cloud about the state of my education."  
>"It was something to do with Mitternacht?"<br>"No, I'm told it was Felidae."  
>Drifting Snowflakes twitched her nose. "I wouldn't ask her right now. She's in nearly as much pain as your father."<p>

Lightning Strike opened his mouth to respond to this when a shudder suddenly pushed its way through the cave. Several cats yowled in shock as the tremor rattled several pebbles free from the cave ceiling. It died away as quickly as it had struck, but silence reigned for a few minutes after before conversation resumed.  
>"What in the Wolf's kindness was that?" Lightning Strike asked, tail twitching. "An avalanche?" He kept his voice down. Avalanches were deadly and very fast, often occurring after storms.<br>Drifting Snowflakes bit her lip. She'd felt shaking like that before, recently—but where was it? The memory was faint. Something…something to do with the mountains.

She'd barely had time to process that thought before another tremor struck the cave. This time, rather than a shake, the cave floor simply tossed the Kingdom cats up into the air. They crashed into the ground again in a huge pile, screaming in shock and fear. The shudder faded, and the cats began to lurch to their paws again.  
>Drifting Snowflakes twitched her ears. Over the cries, she could hear a new sound; a soft cracking noise, coming from the depths of the cave. Dark Night lifted his head and roared in the way only he could:<br>"_Get out! Now!_"

Neither Eastern or Western cat thought to disobey, charging out of the cave and forcing the cat in front of them to move faster. Drifting Snowflakes felt the ground beneath her paws warm, and a deadly fear struck her heart. "Move faster!" she yowled, and began to nip the hind paws and tails of the cats at the back of the struggling mass. A thought stopped her.  
>"Rain Cloud!"<br>A hoarse mew responded to her cry, and the Queen skidded over to the old she-cat. She grabbed the duchess's scruff and pulled her to her feet, feeling Rain Cloud's body tremble. By now the ground was burning beneath them and most of the cats had bolted clear. Drifting Snowflakes tugged her friend through the mouth of the cave and both she-cats collapsed onto the ground, out of breath.

There was a huge crash, and a high-pitched whine rang through the air. The ground twisted as though it were made of bendable plant stems rather than solid rock, and with a sound too loud for ears to comprehend, on top of a mountain to their east, somewhere in Northern Kingdom territory, a mountain died.  
>The behemoth collapsed under its own weight and an avalanche of rock swept down its falling sides at a speed almost as fast as the wind. The <em>sova, <em>who had much longer memories than cats, knew it as a catastrophic debris avalanche. But it was unlikely even they had seen one of such power. The landslide swept past its slope and surged into both the Western and Eastern Kingdom territories. The cats with sharper ears could hear dim screams coming from those areas.

Drifting Snowflakes turned to look around at the cave and horror froze her limbs. Lightning Strike had ran back into the cave and was trying desperately to drag his father out, who was too weak to move. Chunks of rock, loosened by the rattling of the earth, were beginning to fall from the ceiling—including a piece almost directly above them, hanging by a thin thread of stone.  
>Drifting Snowflakes was about to race to his aid when a flash of grey fur leaped past her. Hollow Tree seized Thunder's Roar's hind legs and they half-carried, half-dragged the King out of the cave. Just as they finally stumbled into safe ground, a final, almost gentle tremor shivered through the earth and a wave of stone sealed the cave away from them forever.<p>

The silver tabby quickly approached them as soon as Lightning Strike lifted his head. His amber eyes were wide with fear and he was trembling slightly.  
>"Are you okay?" she said, then glanced at the other Eastern cats. "Are you <em>all <em>okay?"  
>Thunder's Roar gave a weary growl of acknowledgment and tried to struggle to his paws, the adrenaline surging through him numbing some of the pain in his joints.<br>"I've…been…better," the Prince replied, out of breath. He glared at his father. "If only you weren't so _vobis _big!" The black tom merely gave him a cool glance in return before limping away to see the damage done to the land by the earth shake.

A cool scent of flowers met Drifting Snowflakes' nose, and she lifted her tail in greeting to Fire Opal. She hadn't been sure why the _ameslari _had chosen to come with them. Now she understood. The wave of rock would have destroyed her home, too.  
>With her expert touch Fire Opal quickly checked the two of them for injuries. Satisfied that they were unhurt, she turned away, but Drifting Snowflakes stopped her.<br>"Have you seen Holly Leaf?"  
>The tortoiseshell shook her head. "She disappeared before the shake. I assume she's walking the dreamworld somewhere."<p>

"Have you ever seen anything like this before? I mean, no wonder Mitternacht tried to get us away. But why not the other Kingdoms?"  
>Fire Opal sighed. "The rocks didn't reach the Southern Kingdom, and the Northern Kingdom will be holed up inside their mountain. As to why it happened—it's difficult to explain, but to the north of here, there's a crack in the earth. Sometimes that crack splits open a bit, and the earth shakes. It causes some of the older mountains to break apart, as you've seen." She paused for a moment. "I need to go, your Majesty. There are injuries that need my care."<br>The silver tabby nodded. "Of course. Sorry to keep you." She felt a light of relief that it was not some vengeful act by the Leopard, trying to prevent them from leaving. Reminded of her own Kingdom needs, she left the two toms.

Lightning Strike looked across to Hollow Tree. "You saved my life," he mewed quietly. "Thank you. I won't forget that."  
>The long-boned tabby shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't want to have everything fall apart just because you and his Majesty died," he muttered, refusing to meet his gaze. Lightning Strike gave him a little nod in understanding. It was the tom's sense of loyalty that had spurred him to act, but it was no less touching for that.<p>

For the first time he wondered how difficult it must be for Hollow Tree. His bloodline wasn't what you would call respectable—his mother had ran away to join the Northern Kingdom, their sworn enemies. He was a prickly and difficult cat to approach at the best of times, but it wasn't something he could really help. _He must have been bullied as a page, _Lightning Strike thought with a flash of sympathy. He also felt a sad pride for his mother warm his chest. She'd been the one who promoted him. But then, Northern Lights had always been one to see the hidden side of cats.  
>They turned as Dark Night's growl rippled through the air. "We need to get moving again. The rocks around here are still fragile and they could fall at any moment."<p>

The two toms climbed to their paws and followed the cats as they made their weary journey downriver. It was a calm enough silence, but Lightning Strike felt the urge to say something to him. Running through possibilities in his mind, he found only one thing worth speaking aloud.  
>"I…I hope we won't be enemies," he told the duke, who was spared a response when they heard a new sound.<br>Somewhere ahead, a wolf was howling.


	16. Chapter 14: The Tenderness of Wolves

_I was cornered, afraid and alone.  
>Touch, it reached to my heart.<br>Intense and nerve-racking  
>The green of its eyes shone.<br>And at the time of the gasp,  
>The midnight wolf was gone<br>With a swift move of its tail.  
>And I, the hare, was loose of its grasp.<br>I thought and realized soon  
>What the message was about,<br>That love is timid, yet a wild thing,  
>It only glitters in the moon.<br>And I thought for awhile,  
>Standing in the midst of a field.<br>When suddenly came the midnight wolf,  
>And the sight of it made me smile.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows, 16****th**** Sun**

_In the mountain world, there are six kinds of animal. One is the intelligent hunters—the owl, the fox, the birds of prey. Another is the mindless hunters—the vulture, the bobcat, the snake. Then there are the sentient prey (the mountain deer and goats) as well as the mindless prey, which are primarily rodents and small birds. Then there are the wanderers, strangers to the mountains, and these are the cats, the migratory birds, and the bears._

_The last kind of animal is the wolf, and a wolf cannot be classified into the other groups for many reasons. A wolf is a hunter, but he also eats fruit and leaves when times are lean. A wolf is extremely intelligent, but his sentience is partially anchored into his pack; whereas a cat on her own might be lonely, a wolf without a family risks madness. Though they have been in the mountains for as long as any beast can remember, many wolves choose to leave or are driven out at quite regular intervals. Thus a wolf is neither a true hunter, nor prey, nor a stranger. They linger on the edges of myth and legend, and may help or hinder any being that crosses into their territory._

Lightning Strike shivered as the wild music flowed down through the fragile stones around them, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. All the cats had drawn to a halt and began bunching up together in protection. To his surprise and dismay, he found himself nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with Moon's Light, who gave him a look of searing hatred before craning her short neck over the heads of the other cats.  
>"Calm down," came Fire Opal's soft voice. "Isn't there an agreement between your two species that you won't harm each other?"<p>

"Not these wolves," Thunder's Roar said darkly, his voice a harsh rasp. He was still very weak.  
>"A <em>canaver <em>pack's territory can stretch for weeks," the tortoiseshell replied. "Especially in an area where large prey is scare. No, these will be the same beasts."  
>"The covenant was made a long time ago," Lightning Strike murmured, and Moon's Light rounded on him.<br>"Scared, Prince?" she mocked. He forced himself to keep his voice light and carefree.  
>"No, just cautious. After all, we don't know how civilised they are, or if they even know their stories."<p>

The grey she-cat snorted in disgust and turned back to try and see the wolves.  
>"There—" called a cat, and the Kingdoms swung as a whole in the direction of him.<br>Holly Leaf, being incorporeal, lightly stepped through the crowd of cats, pushing to the front and ignoring their shudders. She stopped and blinked at the _canaver _loping towards them with easy strides_.  
><em>There were eight of them, a good size for a wolf pack in a prey-poor area, all looking healthy and sleek. Two of them ran a little way ahead of the others, their heads cocked in curiosity. When they were barely five cat-lengths away from the Kingdom's northern flank, they drew to a halt with a discipline the royals could only envy.

Holly Leaf watched them. They were almost entirely unlike the wolves she'd known in her life. The wolves of Europe were much smaller, and were predominantly dark grey. These wolves were almost white, streaked boldly with black, and carried proud muzzles and heavy manes of fur.  
>Despite their huge size and regal manner, there was a strange light of humour in their pale golden eyes, and it was this that made Holly Leaf decide that the Kingdom cats were in no real danger for the time being, and departed to the dreamworld.<p>

Lightning Strike pushed forwards, with Hollow Tree and Broken Heart close behind him, to stand by his father and the Western Kingdom royals. Then, to everyone's amazement, Rain Cloud stepped forwards, exposing her throat as common courtesy dictated, and spoke.  
>"Greetings to you, fellow beings. My name is Rain Cloud and this is what's left of the Eastern and Western Kingdoms. Over here"—she nodded to the royals—"we have the leaders of our Kingdoms, who are currently deciding how much of a threat you pose and how to attack."<p>

For a timeless moment there was silence, before the alpha male began to chuff in his throat, a noise that was taken up by the rest of the pack. Lightning Strike swallowed and unsheathed his claws, convinced that it was some sort of war prayer, before Moon's Light nipped his tail painfully.  
>"Don't be an idiot! They're <em>laughing.<em>"  
>Startled, the red tabby realised she was right. A few seconds later, the alpha female visibly shook herself and took a few steps forwards.<p>

"_Neko _have not been seen in our lands for a very long time," she growled, and Lightning Strike noted that while she spoke the basic language of the mountain hunter, it was a specific dialect he'd never heard before. He didn't know what _neko _translated literally to, though it obviously referred to a Kingdom cat.  
>Rain Cloud dipped her head in acknowledgement. "We promise that we aren't here to take your territory or cause trouble of any sort. We're just passing through, which is allowed by the laws of the covenant."<p>

The two wolves exchanged glances with each other. The alpha male spoke: "It is true that what you say is acceptable under the covenant of Amaterasu, but the way you are travelling passes dangerously close to the burrow in which our pups are sleeping. We would rather you take another path."  
>Thunder's Roar stepped forwards. "If we could, we would," he mewed bluntly. "But we're not really sure where we're going, except that we must follow the stream."<br>The alpha male frowned. "Why would you leave when you don't know where to go?"  
>"Now that's a damn good question," hissed Thunder's Roar under his breath, but the alpha female shoved her mate.<p>

"Cantori_, _you fool!Can't you see they're on a pilgrimage? And even if they weren't, what right do you have to stick your nose in others' business?" she huffed, before turning back to the cats. "Please excuse my silly furball of a mate. He was dropped on his head as a pup. I'm Sesse, and you are in the midst of the very fine and noble Aethern Pack."  
>Drifting Snowflakes and Dark Night introduced themselves and the rest of the royals. "We would be happy to take a detour around your pups if you could show us how to get back to the stream once we're done," Drifting Snowflakes said, trying to hide a smile.<br>"That sounds fair," Sesse del Aethern replied with a nod. She nudged her mate. "Cantori? Don't you think it's fair?"

"I don't know," he grumbled. "_Okami _guiding _neko_? My mother would—"  
>"Your mother should have drowned you in the river at birth," interrupted Sesse. She smiled at the Kingdom cats. "Shall we go, then? It's not safe here; the rocks could fall at any minute."<br>Seeming somewhat dazed by the wolves' kindness, Dark Night nodded and called his cats forward, and they began their weary march forwards again.  
>Compared to the slow steps of the cats, the wolves were like dancing spirits, flitting up and down the length of the cat column. One talkative she-wolf with a merry face ran alongside Lightning Strike.<br>"So what do you call us, then? We call you _neko, _which means 'small'. No offence intended, of course, but, well, you are sort of small."

"Umm, we call you _canaver._"  
>"Hungry beasts!I suppose we're even, then."<br>The striped tabby twisted his neck to try and work the cramps out of it from staring up into the wolf's face. "Your alpha male—Cantori?—mentioned someone called Amaterasu. Who's that?"  
>"Who's Amaterasu? Why, she's our goddess, the great Mountain Wolf."<br>The Prince's mouth dropped open. "Your Mountain Wolf is a _she_?"  
>The wolf frowned. "Of course. I mean, you can't expect a male to know anything important now, do you? Uh, no offence."<p>

"None taken," he replied. "The Western Kingdom follow a goddess—the Snow Leopard."  
>"So do we, only we call him Kyodaina."<br>"Kyodaina…that means big, right?"  
>"Mmm, more along the lines of colossal. Can you guess what Amaterasu means?"<br>Lightning Strike smiled. "She who shines in heaven."  
>The youngwolf nodded in reply, then tilted her head. "Are you running away from the earth shake?"<p>

"Sort of," he replied. "We're looking for a place—" he paused, and thought back to his dreams with Mitternacht, and his mother's last words—"a beautiful plain filled with purple flowers, long grass and rabbits, close to a pine forest."  
>The youngwolf shook her head slowly. "I've never seen or heard of any such place. It must be out of our territory."<br>Lightning Strike felt a weight begin to settle on his shoulders. "How far away are we from your territory's border, following the stream?"

"From here, about two weeks' walk for a wolf. You walk slower, so I'd guess maybe three," replied the youngwolf reluctantly, sensing that it was not what he wanted to hear.  
>"Three weeks," he said softly. His paws ached at the thought of all that climbing and walking.<br>"Cheer up," she said optimistically. "Nothing's ever really as bad as it seems." She looked up into the sky and shrugged. "Sunset."  
>Lightning Strike followed her gaze. She was right; the sky was changing into the bold colours of dusk, with the sun perched at the tip of a mountain to their west. He noticed that the chill in the air had increased, too. He felt a familiar apprehension settle in his stomach. No cat liked to travel at night; as well as predators, the chance of falling and breaking your neck was high.<p>

Abruptly, the alpha wolves at the forefront of the group veered away from the stream and led them towards a grove of pine trees. The cats settled in a vague circle—regardless of what Kingdom they belonged to—while the wolves stayed on the outside. Sesse sat down and curled her tail around her paws.  
>"It's a fine time of day for storytelling," she said, almost reverently. "We've all heard the wolf version of the covenant's beginning many times, but none of us have heard how you tell it. I'd consider it an honour if one of your elders would recite it for us."<br>As one, the Kingdom cats turned towards Rain Cloud, who was already stepping into the centre of the circle. A hush fell across them as they waited for the she-cat to begin.

"Not long after Mitternacht punished the cats and took them to the mountains, wolves and cats met for the first time. During these early days, all cats were the size of Mitternacht and thus slightly larger than wolves. We hunted the same prey and marked out land that had once belonged to the wolves; it was inevitable that something would go wrong.  
>"But the cats had only just learned what the price of bloodshed was and the wolves were not inclined to make war against so many enemies, so they suffered in other ways. The barren lands could not support both large predators, and eventually all the deer and goats were gone.<br>This was hard for the wolves, but they were healthy and strong and there was not many of them. The cats, on the other paw, were still recovering from their long war, famine and journey, and their weakness was apparent. Their kits cried out in hunger and it was said that their cries reached the ears of the wolves.

One day, after this had gone on for some time, the father of the wolves, Fenris, arranged to meet Mitternacht. They spoke and agreed to consult the Mountain Wolf for aid to their problems, for it was unlikely that the Snow Leopard would view their plight with much sympathy.  
>So the wolf and the cat climbed to the tallest peak in the mountains, and Fenris sat down and began to sing. Such music had never been heard in the mortal world before, and it was so beautiful the stars wept. The Mountain Wolf, curious about the source of the music, came down from his heaven and found his two children waiting for him.<br>"Father Wolf," Mitternacht said, "I took my people to a place where they could survive and not be dominant—here. But Fenris' children have already named this place as their home, and so both of our species starve. I know you do not wish to interfere, but there is nowhere else for my cats."  
>The Mountain Wolf was saddened by this talk of famine, and he tilted his head in thought. Finally he spoke to Fenris.<p>

"Little one," he said, "You are my son, too. What are your thoughts on your brother's speech?"  
>Fenris straightened his shoulders. "Father, I do not wish for any harm to come to my people. But it is as you have said—whether we look alike or not, wolves and cats are brothers under your fair eyes. I fear that without interference we shall soon come to war, and I want to spare my children the pain of having to fight a brother or sister. And I hear the cat pups, their kits, crying out for milk in the night—milk that their mothers cannot give them because she is starving. Their cries sound exactly like my own children's offspring. So yes, I too wish for an end to their suffering."<br>"Ah!" boomed the Mountain Wolf. "You have won me over. Not just because of the tenderness of wolves, but for your will to unite out of selfless reasons. No doubt the Snow Leopard will disapprove of this—but what she doesn't know won't hurt her." He gave both creatures a wink, and then the humour disappeared from his eyes.

"Harken me well, children, I grant you your wish. From now on every cat shall be half the size they were. Instead of goats and deer they will hunt rodents and birds, of which the mountains have enough to sustain them.  
>You spoke of wishing to spare your families the pain of fighting a familiar being. So, if you're willing, I propose a covenant between wolves and cats. No wolf shall hunt in the lands of the cat, and no cat will take prey in the territory of the wolf. They will not fight, and they should do their best to help each other, for the mountains are harsh even to those who were shaped to live here.<br>Those terms favour your kind, Mitternacht, so I will reward the wolves as well. Your territories will be large and your pack may be dispersed far across them, so I give you the gift of the song you sang to summon me. From the tiniest pup to the weariest elder, when they raise their muzzles to the sky they will feel the spirit of the wild rise within them and it will flower in their throats. You will sing the songs of hunting, of childbirth, of grief, of battle; there are howls for all the things in the world you can think of. So mote it be."

Fenris and Mitternacht gave the Wolf fervent thanks, who brushed them away.  
>"You've brought an old beast joy, which is more powerful than you'll ever know. But I'll take my leave now. The Snow Leopard will track me down to scold me, and I'd rather that happened in someplace warmer than this. Good day to you all." He vanished, leaving the two brothers on the mountaintop.<br>Mitternacht took a deep breath and looked at Fenris, who smiled at him in return.  
>"I think this might be what my mate calls a leap of faith," the wolf father said, before disappearing to see the results of the Mountain Wolf's promise.<br>"Indeed," murmured Mitternacht sadly, knowing he would never see his brother again. Then he, too, was gone, to spread the word of the covenant among the Kingdoms."


	17. Chapter 15: Stories Under Stars

_Who hath given the wolf his howl  
>and the leopard her prowl,<br>and the lamb her fleece,  
>and the goat his horns?<br>The wolf will live with the lamb  
>And the leopard will lie down with the goat<br>The lion will guard the calf and the yearling  
>When in that day a covenant is made<br>So that all shall shelter in peace._

Sesse raised her head after Rain Cloud's tale finished, and nodded approvingly. "The legends differ in small ways," she said, "but on the whole they are much the same." She looked up at the sky, which had turned indigo during the storytelling.  
>"You may sleep here tonight. We go to hunt, now, but we will return in the morning." She flicked her tail to her packmates, and the wolves disappeared into the darkness.<p>

Lightning Strike laid his head down on his paws and sighed. His head was beginning to throb painfully and for a moment he thought he saw the outline of a cat, crouching near him. The Prince shook his head and the aura vanished, but it was enough to unsettle him slightly.  
>"Are you all right?" asked Broken Heart. Lightning Strike nosed her gently.<br>"Headache," he replied, and she rolled her eyes and lay down next to him. "I'm hungry," she said.  
>Lightning Strike glanced around. "You probably won't find much food around here," he said, looking at the bare crags of rock. "This is one of the most desolate places I've seen,"<br>"There's grass, though," she pointed out, nodding to a few wiry clumps in-between the stone. "And where there's grass, there's animals. "

Lightning Strike grunted and rolled onto his side, staring into the night stars. There was a long period of silence between the two friends before Broken Heart spoke.  
>"Lightning Strike," she said hesitantly, "how long do you think it'll be before we find a new home?"<br>The tabby frowned in thought, ignoring his fading pain. "I don't know," he admitted finally.  
>His guardian lay down beside him. "I think I could walk for a long time. Moons, maybe. But I don't want to be old before we see our territories. That's what I'm most afraid of—that we'll make it, but we won't have time to enjoy it."<p>

The Prince cast his eyes down. "Thunder's Roar," he said softly. "And Rain Cloud."  
>"Rain Cloud isn't that old…just wise, I think. I wonder, when we get to this new place, will there be enough territory for everyone? Enough so that we won't need to fight, and that we can grow old in peace?"<br>"Cats always fight, Broken Heart," Lightning Strike told her gently. "It's in our blood, and history. If we didn't fight we'd grow soft and weak."  
>His friend murmured something under her breath that he didn't catch. Lightning Strike rested his nose on his paws. "I had a dream, on the last night we spent in our old territories. In it, Thunder's Roar died."<p>

"Subconscious fear," Broken Heart replied, soothingly.  
>"No…if he did die, I don't think I'd be very sad, or at least not as sad as I should be. He and I…we've never been close. It was always just me and my mother, usually."<br>"I know," Broken Heart said. The Prince looked at her. "Oh, yeah, I forgot. You were there for most of it," he said with a wry grin.  
>"If you didn't notice me, it means either I was doing something right or you were doing something wrong," she teased him. Becoming serious, she said: "Don't blame your father too much, Lightning Strike. He didn't have a good relationship with his own, and even without that he isn't a warm and cuddly sort of cat. Being King puts him under a lot of strain. At least you know your father. Mine might still be alive. That's something I don't like about the Kingdoms…why shouldn't a tom know his own kits?"<p>

"I asked Mother about that once, and she said it was because that the fathers were likely to die and, if they did, mothers didn't want to put their kits through unnecessary pain."  
>"Why do parents do that, anyway?"<br>"Do what?"  
>"Keep secrets from their children. I've seen it, all the time."<br>"I don't know," said Lighting Strike thoughtfully. "I think they just want to protect their kits. But it's wrong, Broken Heart. Don't they know how bad we feel when we find out the truth? Or what horrors we imagine when they keep things from us?"

Broken Heart sighed. "Parents forget everything," she replied, and for a moment, both cats paused, realising how young they sounded. The tabby she-cat continued. "They forget how it felt when their parents treated them badly and then they do the same to their own kits. But it could be worse. Midnight Snow could have been your father."  
>"That's true," Lightning Strike agreed. "Poor Ice Storm…I never managed to ask Fire Opal if she made it to her den."<br>"She didn't," murmured Broken Heart. "I asked. Fire Opal hasn't seen any cats other than Moon's Light."  
>Again a quiet rested between them as they thought of Ice Storm's fate.<br>"Do you think Moon's Light will ever forgive me?" the Prince asked.

"I doubt it. But don't blame yourself, Lightning Strike. You did what you had to do."  
>"I wonder…" the tom murmured. "It seems to me that authority's like an agreement between two groups of cats. Those who are in charge and the ones that aren't. If the knights simply stopped following orders and listening to the royals, there wouldn't be any power at all. We inherited that agreement from our parents, but it doesn't make it any less right."<br>"They say that Mitternacht didn't want to have Kings or Queens," Broken Heart said. "He thought that all cats should have the right to choose their own leaders, like we do when there isn't a royal family. Make their own agreements."

Lightning Strike nodded, and Broken Heart took a deep breath. A troubled look had entered her eyes.  
>"Lightning Strike…have you been having nightmares lately?"<br>He gave her a dry smile. "I haven't been dreaming much at all, lately."  
>She nodded. "It's just…I feel like I'm being hunted, though I don't know what by."<br>The ginger tabby chuckled. "Cats have dreams like that all the time. It's part of being prey, and what helps keep us quick on our paws."  
>"True, that."<p>

The stars twinkled brightly above their heads and the moon, round and full, hung over the Kingdoms. The wind had begun to pick up, but fortunately the sky was clear and there was no scent of snow on the air. The breeze pushed past barren rock formations honeycombed with tiny holes, home to small insects and fungi.  
>Distantly a wolf howled from far away, and a cat's head lifted nearby. It seemed insubstantial and Lightning Strike recognised Holly Leaf.<br>"Everything all right?" he asked her. A shadow of worry and apprehension had descended onto her face.  
>The black she-cat licked her paw and drew it over her ear in an attempt to hide her anxiety. "Fine, thanks," she replied.<p>

"Have you ever seen _canaver_ before?" Lighting Strike queried, genuinely curious.  
>"Yes, I have," she answered distantly. "But they weren't like these wolves. They were intelligent and powerful beasts, but they were also proud, impetuous and bitter. They were convinced that their species was superior to all others, and that everything that had once belonged to them deserved to be theirs again." She gave the sky above a small smile. "On the whole, I prefer these."<br>"What other animals have you seen?"

Holly Leaf began to tell him of all the denizens in forested Europe, and soon all the Kingdoms were listening to her voice. She spoke of the striped badger, of how she pretended to be blind and foolish when she was actually shrewd and strong. Of the fallow deer with their strange leaf-like antlers, of the brilliant red squirrel, and of the brutal wild boar that roamed the forests ripping shrubs to pieces. And though most of them could not conceive the animals she spoke about, the black she-cat was a gifted storyteller. When she had finally run out of beasts to name, she began to describe the forests.

"Imagine a world where the ground is soft, and crunches ever-so-slightly under your paw because of the leaves that fall from the trees. The air is cool, but not cold, and smells of life and damp earth. It's quiet, but never silent—you can always hear the chattering of the birds and the sound of running water. The tree bark is soft, perfect for scratching, and the branches are long and thick enough for you to sleep up there, out of harm's way. If you look up you can see leaves in a thousand shades of green, waving against a perfect blue sky…" Her voice trailed away and her eyes became distant once more, leaving the Kingdom cats spellbound, imagining her perfect world.  
>A cat, a squire from his high-pitched voice, spoke up. "And is there always food there?"<p>

"In almost every season except Deep-Ice," purred Holly Leaf. "Of course, there are dangers there as well. You've got to watch out for foxes and snakes and poisonous plants. But as long as you keep your wits about you, the forest will always be your friend. There's an old verse that talks about it…" She took a deep breath, and sang sweetly.  
>"<em>Forever, I hope to have this lake,<br>A quiet place that keeps my soul awake,  
>Something no-one else can take,<br>The trees and leaves of the forest.  
>The forest feels like home to me,<br>Future camps I cannot clearly see,  
>But there is one thing that will always be,<br>The trees and leaves of the forest."_

__Another howl echoed her words, and the Kingdom cats pulled tightly together. Dark Night raised his voice.  
>"Get some sleep, Kingdoms. It's the first chance we've had to have a proper rest, and it could be the last for some time. When the wolves return we'll ask for permission to hunt—remember, four bites of prey each."<br>Holly Leaf stepped over to Lightning Strike and Broken Heart. "Do you have any songs about your mountains?"  
>Lightning Strike shrugged, but Broken Heart nodded, and recited in a hushed voice:<br>"_Snow is gently coming down,__  
><em>_Every mountain being crowned.__  
><em>_Under the moon's seductive gaze,__  
><em>_Shimmers snow like diamond maze.__  
><em>_But the wind, in restless mood,__  
><em>_Through the calmness will intrude.__  
><em>_In the pearly air it'll play,__  
><em>_Greeting every Deep-Ice day.__  
><em>_Through the sapphire of the sky,__  
><em>_Mitternacht is passing by.__  
><em>_And the joy shall sneak through cold__  
><em>_With the stories yet untold...__"_


	18. Chapter 16: The End of All Things

"_If we had a keen vision  
>And a feeling of all ordinary life,<br>it would be like hearing the grass grow  
>and the squirrel's heart beat,<br>and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."_

**Unknown time, in the mountains**

Rhangori paused at the foot of a vast stone structure.  
>The rock curved far above his head, seemingly a blatant disrespect to the laws of gravity, swooping in a great wave that trapped the moonlight and funnelled it into a tunnel of silver. The sparkling stone did not pierce the darkness at the wave's base, and here the shadowcat sat, lost in thought.<br>Hidden in the depths of the curve was a small insect, a glow-worm, spinning its cocoon, preparing to undergo the metamorphosis that would gift it wings and allow it to take flight. It was the one speck of colour in a world of silver and black.

The darkness played across Rhangori's shoulders, which were now the size of a wolf's. Yet his outline remained strangely distinct, as thought the darkness was emanating _from _him rather than being merely a consequence of a shadowy overcrop.  
>The wind changed, and the beast stiffened as a scent caught his nose.<br>"You again." he growled, but softly, in his own tongue.  
>"Me," agreed the tortoiseshell she-cat in the same language. "Although I would prefer it that you called me Fire Opal."<p>

Rhangori smiled, though it was more of an excuse to bare his teeth than an expression of pleasure. "You remain as watchful as ever, I see."  
>"No, no. Merely fond of taking long walks in the moonlight. What I am not fond of is having to cure the ever existent disease known as stupidity."<br>"Let me tell you about stupidity, healer-cat. Stupidity is refusing to allow a strong, healthy male bearing new blood and wisdom from far away to join your ranks."  
>Fire Opal blinked. "You call it wisdom, your knowledge? I use less pleasant words."<p>

"To be wise is to understand."  
>"Incorrect. To be wise is to have the means to understand yet it is also to be aware that there are some areas of knowledge in the world that should not be understood."<br>The beast stood up. "What truly brings you here? I would love to discuss philosophy with ye but I have other places to go."  
>"More souls to eat?"<br>The _arima _turned on her sharply and unsheathed his claws, but the tortoiseshell was unmoved.  
>"The black she-cat—"<p>

"—Is completely unaware that you have found the boundary between the living world and that of dreams, and has told me nothing. I am a reincarnation, pulled through the border by Amaterasu herself. Every time a spirit steps through, it is like a wind in my fur."  
>"You have a story?"<br>"All creatures have stories. Mine happens to be more interesting than most, but it is not more important. You are eating the souls of other animals. And I thought you could sink no lower."  
>"They give me power."<p>

"No, they do not. They make you bigger, but you are still just as idiotic as the day I met you, scrambling up rocks, begging to be my apprentice."  
>Rhangori snarled and swiped at her, but Fire Opal leaned back and the claws passed harmlessly an inch from her face.<br>"Come with me, Rhangori or Cold Night or whatever nonsense you wish to name yourself."  
>"Why?"<br>"Because I ask. Do you have anything better to be getting along with?"  
>The huge cat pulled himself up to his full height. He towered over the slender tortoiseshell. "With every day that passes I grow stronger. Soon, I will have power that—"<br>"And what, exactly, do you plan to do with this so-called power? No, don't tell me. I don't care. Come on." She walked into the moonlight.

The _arima _smouldered for a few seconds, glancing up at the stone wave, before giving out an angry growl and following her out of the darkness.  
>As he followed the <em>ameslari, <em>he noticed that the world around him seemed to change. The mountains' desolate slopes were being replaced by gently undulating hills of grass. The sweet smell of flowers filled the air and he sucked in a deep breath, surprised at how much oxygen it contained.  
>"Is this heaven?" he called to Fire Opal, who shrugged her shoulders before replying.<br>"How would I know? I've never been there."

They continued to walk, and the land grew more beautiful the further they went. Finally Fire Opal called a halt in a strange circle of bare earth, ringed by clouds of scented heather. The moon and stars seemed especially close, and Rhangori shivered; for a moment, he thought they were eyes, staring back at him.  
>"What is this place?" he muttered, taking refuge in anger.<br>"How many times do I have to say "I don't know" before you'll believe me?"  
>"If you don't know where we are, why'd you bring me?"<br>Fire Opal lay down in the grass, the moonlight and darkness breaking up her outline until she resembled a painted shadow drifting among the grass. Her rainbow eyes closed.  
>"I want to hear," she murmured, the acid bite fading from her voice. "I want to know. If I bring you, they will come."<br>"They?"

Before the tortoiseshell could answer a rumble shivered through the lovely earth.  
>One by one the stars suddenly winked out, and the moon was swallowed by the night sky. It was complete and total darkness, imperceptible to even the sharpest of nocturnal eyes. The air chilled, and a gale of wind howled through the heather and forced Rhangori to the ground. The sudden onslaught of air was crisp and sharp. Breathing it, Rhangori felt as though some hidden bud of strength had bloomed; his mind and thoughts became clearer than they had been for seasons.<br>"What is it?" he yowled, but he could not even hear his own voice over the relentless wind.  
><em>Us, <em>said a new being, and the wind abruptly died.  
>The stars and moon were still invisible, but they cast their own bright light, and it burned his eyes to look at them.<br>"You," he breathed.

They were smaller than him, but they carried themselves in a way that made Rhangori think they could be larger but did not bother to be so. One was slightly in front of the other; a silvery cat with large, pale eyes and heavy paws. Her fleece was lined with darker colour and the light she produced glinted off white fangs. The second was long-boned and tan-coloured, with a gentle face and inquisitive eyes. He sat down, but his female companion continued to stand.  
>Standing behind them, slightly obscured by their light, was Mitternacht.<p>

"Fire Opal," said the Wolf in a pleasant but firm voice. "You may come out."  
>The tortoiseshell she-cat climbed to her paws and stepped uneasily into the circle of bare earth, her ears flattened against her head.<br>The Wolf tilted his head. "Hiding in the dark and listening to what is not meant for your ears was always one of your faults."  
>"With respect," she replied, her voice steady, "if I did not eavesdrop I would know nothing."<br>"Truespoken," he replied, and looked to his companion. Her cold eyes narrowed and she looked to Mitternacht.

"I see a thought on your tongue, Mitternacht," the Leopard said. "Speak it."  
>The Father of Cats looked up at them with more than a trace of defiance. "What are your plans?"<br>"Our plans?" replied the Leopard, as though she were surprised he had to ask. "Your children have failed and disappointed us yet again. My patience is at an end. So are they."  
>"You did not see," he argued. "They were forced to by necessity."<br>The Leopard and the Wolf looked at each other.

They had been away. The Creators had been wandering a not-so-distant future, manipulating the skeins of time to try and achieve a better result. They had seen poisoned earth and seas choked with filth, the skeletons of fish drifting onto dying shores. They had seen the mountains stripped bare of their desolate beauty, and it had broken their hearts.  
>Once upon a time they had been interested in the ebb and flow of life, and decided to study it further. They had created a world suitable for many species, not just a certain few. The planet they made was possibly the most beautiful one in the universe—one that could support all that wished to call it home.<p>

They brought love and laughter into the lives of the beasts that evolved. They taught them to look up and see the stars, to look and wonder. Some saw the stars as a useful thing, a means of finding your way in the world. Others saw them as proof of a greater, more powerful being. More still watched them, and loved them as treasures, and found that their enigma was what made them beautiful.  
>Some saw them as a mystery. And when that mystery was solved, the knowledge of what made stars blaze did not dim their brilliance; understanding that they were objects without thought or feeling did not stop people from wishing upon them; discovering that they were hostile to life did not destroy the longings of those wanting to grow wings and see them up close.<br>The ones that knew, the ones that wanted to know, learned too much.  
>The creatures that did not try to know were interesting in their own way, but in the end they were simply left to live out their lives. The cats existed on the land they had been given. They should not have asked for anything more—they had never bothered to look.<p>

They did ask, and it brought upon them the wrath of the universe, and they were exiled to a harsh earth where they could barely eke out a living. Yet they had still found a way to fail—still grasped at power that was not theirs to take!  
>The Creators had been away, and they realised with sorrow and frustration that they could never go back and change things, and that now the only option available to them was to exterminate the stain of failure before it spread.<br>Mitternacht stepped in front of the Leopard. "You do not have to do this. I sent a group of them—they are looking now, learning! Is that not what you wanted?"  
>The Wolf turned to stare at Rhangori. "You have brought doom to your species."<br>Rhangori said nothing, correctly realising that to speak would be to invite his own death.

"One cat. One failure. How does that justify extermination?"  
>"Because it is not one cat, nor is it one failure," replied the Leopard. "Every time the cats have fallen you have told me that you would heal them. Each time you have not done so. Why should we show such favour to your kind? Others have suffered with less chances."<br>"This time it is different. They—"  
>"Different? With you spoon-feeding them the entire way? They will fall the moment you step back."<br>"I disagree," Mitternacht said firmly.

The Wolf sighed and raised his head to the dark sky. "You have proof?"  
>"I do. There are others guiding them, not just me."<br>The Wolf deliberated for a moment. "One final chance," he said. The Leopard growled and sat down, her tail curled around her paws. The Wolf ignored her and turned to Fire Opal.  
>"Do you think they will fall?"<br>"No," she answered without hesitation. The Wolf nodded slowly and looked at his companion. "Well?"  
>"Do as you will. It changes nothing," she said. The Leopard stood up abruptly and stepped over to the Wolf and Fire Opal.<br>"If you truly believe this will work…" she murmured, and suddenly her voice became surprisingly gentle, "then teach them this."  
>The Creators began to speak, one after the other.<p>

_"Teach them the stories. Teach them that the universe is not what it seems."  
>"Teach them that each thing in it is more than the sum of its parts."<br>"The stars are not merely gas and heat…they are fire and light…."  
>"…the whole world is fire, bathed in light, and life is the shadows on its surface."<br>"Sometimes the world will speak, and her voice will sound through many ways."  
>"In faith, in dreams, in tears, in loneliness, in love, in courage, in kindness, in compassion."<br>"In the trees, the rivers, the winds, the sky."  
>"And sometimes the world will speak through other beings, but her words may be corrupted, so you must listen carefully…"<br>"…for the world is telling you her secret, and her secret can be heard by all who wish to hear."  
>"The world is telling you that the difference between what is right and what is easy is the same difference between love and hatred..."<br>"…for it is easy to hate, for hate requires only ignorance…to love you must understand."  
>"The world is telling you that she loves you, and requires only your love in return."<br>"She is telling you over and over that your sorrows and fears are not meaningless to her, that she shares your hopes and dreams."  
>"If you listen even closer, you might hear her explain to you how to cure the sorrow, how to achieve the dream."<br>"Everything you need to know, she is telling you. The secret is different for everyone."  
>"To find it, you must look, and before you look, you must listen."<em>


	19. Chapter 17: To Kill A King

_He who would fight monsters  
>Must beware lest he become a monster<br>And if thou gaze long into the abyss  
>The abyss stares long into thou.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows, 26****th**** Sun**

Loneliness.  
>It was not an emotion Drifting Snowflakes had ever thought she would feel.<br>Always in her life she'd had cats around her. As a kit she'd had her mother, and Bright Stars. She'd been popular throughout her page and squire years. Even when she ascended to power, there'd always been cats she was close to.  
>Wasn't it strange, now that she was in a constant throng of cats, that she felt more alone than ever before?<p>

They had left the wolves behind them some suns ago, their wild voices still echoing in the Kingdoms' ears. Sesse had replied, when asked if they knew of the goal of the pilgrimage:  
>"We have never seen nor heard of the place you seek. But that doesn't mean it's not real! I've spent my entire life in this territory, and Cantori came when he was young from the opposite direction. The same is true for most of our packmates."<br>"If you've never seen it," Dark Night had asked, "why do you think it exists?"

"If a tree falls in a glade and no beast was around to sense it, does that mean it did not happen? Cantori will disagree with me on this, but I am of the firm belief that there is more than one way of seeing. There are the eyes on our faces, of course. Those tell us all we need to know of the physical world. There is also, however, the eye of the heart and the eye of the mind. When I first saw you my physical eyes told me that you were prey. My mental eye told me of the covenant. But my heart's eye saw you burn with hope and purpose. I would not extinguish such a flame. So it seems to me that you should stop trying to look for your goal with your physical senses and instead start using the others you were blessed with."

Fire Opal, who had been listening to the conversation, had eyed the wolf with a kind of awe at this.  
><em>That was then, and this is now, <em>Drifting Snowflakes thought with a trace of sardonic irony.  
>Though the fiercest bite of Deep-Ice was over, and the temperatures seemed to be rising slightly, cold and hunger were still very real problems. There was just not enough food for them all, and at this point some of the pages were beginning to resemble skeletons with hide stretched over them. The more belligerent dukes and duchesses, who had clearly forgotten their own hungry days as knights, were impossible to manage and fights were beginning to break out. This would not have concerned the Queen very much; it was the way of the world that cats tested their strength and ensured that only the toughest survived. The new fights were not equal, however, and it was often senior knights or dukes banding together to bully others out of their food. It added to the general sense of despair and broken spirit that oozed out of the wanderers like poison.<p>

Perhaps things might have improved if the Eastern Kingdom had clear leaders, but Thunder's Roar was weak. He had still not recovered from his enormous struggle through the storm and the other dukes could sense it. No-one had laid a challenge yet, but it was surely only a matter of time.  
>A flicker of movement darted across the horizon and Drifting Snowflakes lifted her head in the hope that it might be Fire Opal.<br>It wasn't. Just a bird.

Lightning Strike was fully occupied with trying to sort out his Kingdom and had very little time to talk to her these days. Even when he did, he was bad-tempered and easily distracted. She missed him more than she thought possible. Rain Cloud was in better shape than Thunder's Roar but she was still concentrating all her energy on putting one paw in front of the other. Broken Heart and Hollow Tree spent most of their hours with Lightning Strike and in any case she wasn't as comfortable with them as she ought to have been.

Holly Leaf had been missing ever since she had explained in her soft, ethereal voice about her life's home. It was another worry on a long and growing list, as Drifting Snowflakes suspected that she was caught up in her battle with Cold Night. The silver tabby even began to wonder if the _arima _was dead, but Fire Opal had assured her that only the Snow Leopard could pull the black warrior from her purgatory.

Fire Opal herself was prone to long disappearances. Even in the early parts of the journey she had vanished every now and again to speak with other mountain denizens and examine plants, but she had always returned in a few hours. Now she left without a word at dawn and only slunk back into the Kingdoms' cold huddles well after sunset.  
>"You're panicking again," rumbled a voice beside her.<br>Jerked from her thoughts, Drifting Snowflakes tried to smile into Dark Night's eyes. She could never bring herself to the idea that this tom was her mate and found it awkward to talk to him about anything except Kingdom business. Dark Night had respected that and kept his distance, a fact that shamed her. She was a Queen, not a shy maiden.

"I can't help it," she mewed in reply. "Every time my mind's not occupied, I just think. Why did we ever leave home? Sometimes I even wonder if death would be preferable to this. We might be all marching to our deaths anyway."  
>He watched her for a few moments. "We left because we were told to leave."<br>Drifting Snowflakes breathed out sharply through her nose.  
>Cats, like all beasts, are forgetful. Their minds are shaped so that the vast majority of it is fixed firmly on the present with the rest a keeping place for ancestral memories and stories. It was partially what made Rain Cloud special; she seemed to have a stronger memory than most cats did.<p>

But in between the stories and the present, things grow faded. Drifting Snowflakes had forgotten the names of her littermates, and her life in her old home was blurring. Fragments of memory stayed; a massive chasm, a rock shaped like a wave, a cave full of glittering rainbows…little else. Looking back on it now, it sometimes seemed that the meetings with Mitternacht had all been just an undefined dream that played through the heads of all cats.  
>"Did you need me for something?" she said at last, reverting to formality. There was a look of hurt in his eyes, and she felt bad. He'd only been trying to help. But she was in no mood to apologize, and was almost glad when Lightning Strike and Broken Heart trotted over to them.<br>"Your Majesties," the ginger tabby said politely, "do you know by any chance where the _ameslari _might be?"

"I wouldn't have a clue," replied Dark Night in the same cool tone. "You may not have noticed, but she is rarely with us these days."  
>Broken Heart rolled her eyes. The two toms needled each other constantly, and she thought she could guess why.<br>Lightning Strike glared back. "Forgive me. I was busy." He said it in a way that implied that Dark Night had not been. The King opened his mouth to respond, but Broken Heart jumped in.  
>"It's Thunder's Roar, your Majesties. He's ill."<br>"He's always ill," said Drifting Snowflakes, feeling another unwelcome twinge of guilt. She hadn't asked about him for some suns now. _How long have I been wrapped up in my self-pity? _she wondered. _Too long._

_"_This time it's really bad. He keeps crying out that he feels the ground burning beneath his paws. At first we thought he meant he was feverish but his temperature has actually gone down a little. Then he said the earth was going to shake again. That's when we came here."  
>"So he's rambling. Sick cats do that." said Dark Night, indifferent. At least here Drifting Snowflakes could understand part of his feelings. Never having a father himself, Dark Night thought Lightning Strike should simply kill Thunder's Roar and take his place.<br>Drifting Snowflakes watched Lightning Strike slowly unsheathe his claws. "Stop," she growled. "Maybe we should all see him. If enough of us insist that the earth isn't going to shake, he might calm down."

Both the Eastern Kingdom cats looked dubious, but they didn't say anything as they turned and led them through the camp towards the ailing King, who was crouched on his paws as though preparing to hunt.  
>Drifting Snowflakes caught her breath. She knew he was very sick, but this…<br>Even more than the pages, Thunder's Roar was a skeleton. There was neither muscle nor an inch of fat on him, and his fur was ragged and falling out in places. His lips parted slightly in rasping breath. This was also a bad sign. Cats did not breathe through their mouths. His scrawny chest struggled to find the energy to rise and fall.  
>Even Dark Night had nothing to say to his condition, and they all jumped back when a fiery yellow eye opened.<p>

"The ground…" he snarled, and swiped a paw at an invisible foe. "It'll kill us all!"  
>Remembering her original goal, Drifting Snowflakes stepped forwards. "It won't, sir," she said gently. "You heard what Fire Opal said, remember? These things only happen once in a generation. Longer, even."<br>He sneered at her. "Foolish she-cat, you know nothing! The dark cat said it will happen in his voice of pain and he is always right."  
>The Western royals glanced at the Eastern, but it was clear that this 'dark cat' was new to them as well.<br>"What dark cat?"

The tom frowned. "He…he of the chill, and the Deep-Ice shadows. He who brings darkness. He who took my light away from me, may the Wolf bless her _cyth."  
><em>Lightning Strike frowned. "Does he mean Cold Night? But he's dead!"  
>Drifting Snowflakes' stomach dropped. <em>How could this happen? Holly Leaf said he couldn't reach toms!<br>Oh? _said another voice that sounded uncomfortably like Fire Opal. _And Holly Leaf is always right, isn't she? He is weak and on the brink of madness. That alone might make him easy to exploit.  
><em>"Enough of this!" Dark Night said abruptly. He stood over Thunder's Roar. "It is clear you don't have the strength to do your duty to your Kingdom," he sneered at Lightning Strike, "but you will make a better King than he." He unsheathed his claws.

"_No!" _the she-cats shrieked, and Lightning Strike let out a bellow of rage, leaping for the black tom, but Thunder's Roar was faster still.  
>With incredible speed he lashed out with unsheathed talons and raked Dark Night across the nose. It was hardly a dangerous blow, but it <em>hurt. <em>It also drove Dark Night into greater fury. By all Kingdom laws, this was a dominance fight now, and no-one else could intervene.  
>"Dark Night, stop this right now!" Drifting Snowflakes cried, stepping between them.<br>"Out of the way! I'll try and make it quick for him—though, honestly, the way I'm feeling now—"  
>He never finished his sentence. The ground shook.<p>

Drifting Snowflakes had a brief sensation of weightlessness before realizing that she—and all cats—were being thrown into different directions. She landed hard, knocking her head onto a slab of stone. Then darkness.  
>An unknown period of time later, thirst and the taste of blood roused her into consciousness. She squinted against the Deep-Ice sunlight, and saw, silhouetted against it, a willowy grey tabby tom.<br>He bent down to examine her.  
>"Well, you don't look too healthy. But you'll do, I think," said Hollow Tree.<p> 


	20. Chapter 18: The Dividing Line

_Have we not come to such an impasse in this world  
>That we must love our enemies—or else?<br>The chain reaction of evil-  
>Hate begetting more hate,<br>Wars begetting more wars…  
>It must be broken and started nevermore<br>Or else our dooms await us all. _

"What…happened?" Drifting Snowflakes managed to rasp, pain pounding through her head like the hooves of a goat.  
>Hollow Tree sat. "Another earth-shake, apparently."<br>"How many of ours dead?"  
>"Not nearly as many as there could have been. And most of those deaths were euthanasia. Broken legs, spines, that sort of thing."<br>Memory began to stir in her head again. "Lightning Strike!" she choked, pulling herself into a sitting position. She regretted it immediately. The world spun around her violently and she felt like vomiting—except that there was nothing in her stomach.  
>Hollow Tree quirked an eyebrow at the mention of his Prince's name, but did not comment. He pushed several tattered leaves towards her.<p>

"What are those?"  
>He smiled humourlessly. "I'm told that the majority of it is wild ginger for your dizziness and that the rest is astralagus, which makes it taste nice and gives you energy. All I really know is that it works."<br>Drifting Snowflakes leaned down and crunched the leaves delicately between her teeth. The ginger was intensely sharp and bitter, but the sweetness of the other herb soothed it somewhat. She felt her head clear and her stomach settle.  
>A trace of scent from the herbs caught in her glands. "Fire Opal? She's back?"<br>"Came rushing in here a moment before the ground shook. She's hemmed in with the rest of us now."  
>Something about the use of the word <em>hemmed<em> puzzled the Queen, but she let it pass. "What about Dark Night and Lightning Strike and the others? Are they all right?"  
>Hollow Tree raised his head to meet her gaze. "Rain Cloud is here."<br>"The others?"

He didn't answer. Dread began to twist her heart.  
>"Are you telling me they're—"<br>"I don't know, your Majesty."  
>"<em>Duke<em>!" she spat. "I order you to tell me everything! If they're dead—" Again, Hollow Tree cut her off, either not noticing or caring that she'd given him a direct command.  
>"You go too far and too fast," he said, almost reproachfully. "Look behind you."<br>The Queen climbed to her paws and looked behind her.  
>The Kingdom cats had stopped to rest beneath a huge cliff. In hindsight, it was perhaps not the wisest landform to sleep under, but it was the only thing large enough to provide shelter for all of them. With the shock of the earthquake it had collapsed, sending a vast pile of rock skidding across the surface of the earth. The new streak of rubble was about twenty cat-lengths high, but it might as well have been a mountain. The rock was sharp shale, and any cat who tried to climb it would have her paws cut to the bone.<p>

She listened. Distantly, she heard the mewings of other cats. An idea lifted its head in her mind...but surely…  
>"They're <em>behind <em>that?" she whispered.  
>"Interesting, isn't it?" Hollow Tree remarked. "It was like the Mountain Wolf, or your Snow Leopard, had decided to crush us to death and at the last moment changed their minds."<br>Drifting Snowflakes opened her mouth to order him not to joke about such things until she noted the serious look in his eye. She didn't challenge him. "This spur of rock doesn't look so long. Once every cat that can be healed is ready to go, we'll follow its edge until—" Hollow Tree was shaking his head.  
>"Not possible, your Majesty. At least not for the time being."<p>

Drifting Snowflakes was beginning to feel irritation at being left out of the loop. "Why not?"  
>"It's…it's better if you see for yourself." With that, he got to his paws and looked at her enquiringly.<br>She sighed and followed him. They winded their way through about thirty cats in various states of shock and pain. They passed Fire Opal, who—to their amazement—was tending Thunder's Roar, deeply asleep or unconscious.  
>"<em>He <em>survived?" Drifting Snowflakes said in disbelief.  
>Hollow Tree shot her a cold look, and she reminded herself that the King remained the only one who held the grey tabby's loyalty.<p>

Fire Opal heard them and lifted her tortoiseshell head. "Yes, he did." There was a similar note of warning in her voice.  
>Doing her best to look contrite, Drifting Snowflakes sat down beside him. "How is he?" she asked in a low mew, so as not to wake him.<br>Fire Opal shook her head and looked sorrowful. "I've tried everything I could. He is stable enough to continue walking—for a little while, at least—and that is all I can say. He is old and the loss of his mate is damaging him inside."  
>"Isn't there anything you can do to help him with that?"<p>

"It's not a physical injury. It saps at his mind and willpower. Even then, there are certain herbs that can soothe and stabilize him, but something is preventing them from actively working. I do know that he carries a heavy burden. He grieves for Northern Lights, but he is also ashamed of his own failings, and feels guilt over his son. He wants to die, but at the same time, he doesn't. One of the laws of your Kingdom is that cats who commit suicide are barred entry from your heavens, isn't that right?"  
>"Yes," answered Drifting Snowflakes. She peered in closer. "So this emotional wound is festering?"<br>"In a way. When a beast is injured in the _cyth, _as you might say, whether or not the beast heals depends entirely on his inner strength. Thunder's Roar is strong inside. I'd say this is his passive-aggressive way of ensuring his death without actively causing it. Like a sick cat who refuses to eat the herbs provided."

"Is there any way, at all, that he can be helped?" Hollow Tree asked, clearly not understanding most of what Fire Opal was saying.  
>"Thunder's Roar needs to find something to live for, and quickly, or he will die."<br>"How soon?"  
>"Days, not weeks. I couldn't say more than that."<br>Drifting Snowflakes remembered something. "Where's Moon's Light?" she asked, looking around. There was no sign of the bitter ex-knight.  
>Fire Opal sighed. "If she isn't dead, then she's on the other side of this, I suppose."<br>"With Lightning Strike. She'll love that."

"Her anger is not unjustified, you know that."  
>"Lightning Strike really is sorry."<br>Fire Opal twitched her whiskers. "Your Majesty, if the Southern Kingdom cat that killed Bright Stars suddenly appeared and apologized for what he's done, would you stop grieving?"  
>The silver tabby thought. "No, I guess I wouldn't."<br>"Then give her the same courtesy. She is not a naturally vicious cat. Her hatred will fade, eventually."  
>Hollow Tree shifted slightly. "I'm sorry, but I really do need to show the Queen something."<br>The tortoiseshell nodded. "Of course. Don't let me keep you." She turned back to the knight she was tending, and Drifting Snowflakes followed the duke away.

"Why were you called Hollow Tree?" she asked, curious. He didn't answer. She pressed further. If they were going to be stuck together for a while, she didn't want them to be unfriendly. "I was born during a Deep-Ice snowstorm. The wind blew snowflakes into our birthing den and they settled on me. My mother took it as a sign from the Leopard."  
>He sighed. "My mother abandoned the Eastern Kingdom to join the North. Along the way, she swallowed herbs to deliberately induce her labour, because maidens can't become knights again. We were too young to be born and all my littermates died. Except for me. A squire hunting patrol found me where I was born—in a hollowed-out tree log." He stopped. "There."<br>Drifting Snowflakes looked, and swore.  
>"Leopard's teeth!"<p>

The stream they had been following writhed across the rock face and then—disappeared.  
>A foaming streak of water tumbled over the edge of the cliff and hurled itself out into space. It turned into flecks of sparkling white before falling into the wrath of a much larger and deeper river below. It was fed by numerous other streams and swelled with melt-water.<br>The river had cut deep into the earth, and on either side of it rose huge cliffs, unscaleable, and with no way to cross. Breathing deeply into the wind that flowed from the other side, Drifting Snowflakes caught the familiar tang of Kingdom cats.  
>"A <em>gorge,"<em> she wailed. "Leopard's—"

"Swearing ill becomes a cat of your station, your Majesty," said Hollow Tree, and she shot him a glance, certain he was laughing. But no, his face remained as impassive and serious as ever.  
>"A gorge," the Queen growled, and followed the cliffs with her eyes. "It'll take days to rejoin them."<br>"At least. Luckily, it's not all bad news. Look to your right, now."  
>Drifting Snowflakes did so. The cliffs were not as steep on this side and sloped down gradually into a mist of green. Her eyes widened slightly. "Are those…trees?"<br>"Not just trees. A forest. A real forest. We've gone below the snowline."

"But…we should climb the cliffs, keep to the top of the gorge. That way we'll all be able to see each other and—"  
>"No, your Majesty," the grey tabby replied, cutting her off <em>again. <em>She glared, but he didn't seem to care. "It's too dangerous."  
>"I am Queen here," she reminded him quietly.<br>"That's true. What's also true is that these cats are in no shape to take that sort of climb. Some are lame from the earth shake. Even the ones who aren't are still starving, exhausted, and in shock. If you make them choose between following you or going down and finding prey, shelter, and water, you might have a mutiny on your paws."

"You get above yourself, _duke_," Drifting Snowflakes growled.  
>Hollow Tree's spine bristled. "With Thunder's Roar incapacitated and with Lightning Strike and Broken Heart on the other side of the gorge, <em>I <em>am in charge of the Eastern Kingdom. I fought the council myself to ensure that. So I have the authority of any King. If you doubt that, I can fight you here, and we'll see who's above their station."  
>Drifting Snowflakes was about to blister him and cuff his ears when she realised that a number of Kingdom cats nearby had noticed the scent of hostility emitting from the duke and the Queen. They were Eastern Kingdom cats, and they eyed her shrewdly. They would never challenge her outright—or would they? Somewhere along the journey, perhaps between Thunder's Roar's illness, Dark Night's arrogance, and her own anti-social behaviour, the knights had started losing faith in their royals. Faced with situations the cats in charge had been unable to solve, it was hardly surprising that they were looking elsewhere for guidance.<p>

What had Moon's Light said? _What makes a King? You do not rule the skies, or the seasons…  
><em>"If we're going to be forced to put up with each other's charming company for a few days, could we at least make an effort to get along?" rasped a third voice. With relief, Drifting Snowflakes looked away and recognized Rain Cloud. The black-and-white appeared to be unhurt.  
>Drifting Snowflakes hesitated. "Fine. We go into the forest and try to meet up with them once the gorge is gone."<br>Hollow Tree twitched his tail and nodded. "Then we should go tomorrow. These cats need to rest."  
>The silver Queen ran her tongue across the back of her teeth. She knew she was in the wrong, but she couldn't quite swallow her pride to apologise to him.<br>"Your Majesty," said Rain Cloud softly, "would you walk with me back to the cats?"

Knowing this was the duchess's way of diplomatically allowing her to back down, Drifting Snowflakes accepted. She stepped down the slope and after her fellow Kingdom cat.  
>They walked in silence for a time before Rain Cloud took a breath to speak. Before she could, Drifting Snowflakes broke in.<br>"Look, I don't need a lecture. I know I shouldn't have argued with him and I'm sorry. But he could have been nicer about it. I'll make more of an effort in future."

"Very nice," grunted Rain Cloud, "but that's got nothing to do with what I was about to say."  
>Drifting Snowflakes blinked. "It doesn't?"<br>"No. You're not a kit and I'm not your mother; you can make your own decisions on how you relate with other cats. And that means giving you the right to make mistakes. Besides," –and her whiskers twitched slightly in amusement—"I wouldn't want to undermine your authority in front of him."  
>"Not you too!" the silver tabby groaned. "Why are they suddenly starting to think for themselves <em>now<em>? This will sound mean, but it was easier when they just dumbly followed orders."  
>"The brainless knights that followed your commands mindlessly are dead, your Majesty. They were the ones who fell asleep directly at the bottom of the rock. The cats who survived are the suspicious, wary ones. Like I said, though, I didn't want to talk to you about that."<br>"Oh indeed? What, then?"

"Do the names Fading Shadows and Blue Sky mean anything to you?"  
>Drifting Snowflakes shrugged. "Fading Shadows is one of our knights, isn't he?"<br>"That's true. Blue Sky is from the Eastern Kingdom. And they're mates, or close enough."  
>The Queen's eyes widened. "No. That can't be right. They're from different Kingdoms…"<br>Rain Cloud tapped her paw on the ground in mild impatience. "Not anymore, apparently. I spoke to them earlier. Fading Shadows has declared that nothing will keep them apart and if we arrive at our destination he intends to join her in the Eastern Kingdom."

"Romantic," Drifting Snowflakes said dryly. "I bet the other knights are loving this."  
>"Actually, they're not as angry about it as you'd expect. Only the more conservative ones are worried. Personally though I'm more concerned about what happens if she becomes pregnant. The pages are difficult enough to manage as it is, though the Leopard knows we have hardly any left."<br>"So what do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. That's precisely why I _am _talking to you. Chances are if you heard this yourself you'd race off and force them into isolation or something. But they're both popular among their respective Kingdoms and it'll be taken by some as a sign that you've truly lost control of your Kingdom. If anyone asks, just pretend it's your typical adolescent-dumb-love sort of thing and say you're not worried. We can deal with this when we arrive."  
>Drifting Snowflakes frowned. "That forest down there…you think that might be our goal?"<br>"It could be. But I doubt it. It might be rich enough to feed us for a while, but not to live in, I don't think."  
>Drifting Snowflakes glanced back over her shoulder, though she couldn't see the trees anymore.<br>"At least it'll be warmer," she muttered, feeling more useless than ever.


	21. Chapter 19: Kindness

_Don't walk behind me—  
>I may not lead.<br>Don't walk ahead of me—  
>I may not follow.<br>Just walk beside me—  
>I will call you a brother.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows  
>26<strong>**th**** Sun (same time as previous chapter)**

"Ouch! _Vervloek!_" Lightning Strike yelped as Broken Heart pulled a piece of shale out of his paw.  
>"Oh, don't be such a kit. It would have hurt a lot more if I'd left it in there. Which I should have done! Why did you try to climb the wall?"<br>Lightning Strike hung his head. She'd never believe the real reason. "My father and Hollow Tree are over that wall. I wanted to see them."  
>His guardian gave him a sharp glance. She knew when he was lying. Apparently deciding to leave the subject, she cleared her throat.<p>

"You aren't endearing yourself to Dark Night, I see."  
>The ginger tabby shrugged. "If he doesn't like me, there's nothing much I can do about that."<br>"That's _amenokti _dung and you know it. You're the King of the Eastern Kingdom now and the least you can do is swallow your pride and talk to him like a real tom."  
>"Fine! I'll talk to him." Lightning Strike pressed a paw to his head. It was hurting again.<br>"Do it now." Broken Heart said, noting the action. "Why are you holding your head like that?"  
>"I have a headache," he muttered.<br>"Show me your teeth," she ordered. Lightning Strike snorted. "I mean it!" she snapped.  
>With a sigh, Lightning Strike opened his mouth. Broken Heart growled. "Honestly, I'd be surprised if you didn't have a headache. You've ground your teeth badly. Stop doing it. And don't say you can't help it."<p>

"I think I do it in my sleep," the Prince/King sighed.  
>For some reason, that appeared to worry Broken Heart more than anything else. "You have nightmares?"<br>"Don't know. I never remember my dreams. You're right, though. Once we get to the forest down there I'm going to sleep with a piece of wood in my mouth. Maybe that'll help."  
>"Maybe. Go and see Dark Night." She strode away from him.<br>Lightning Strike looked around and caught sight of the Western King speaking to Moon's Light. _By the Wolf's kindness, _he thought grumpily. _Why did they both have to be stuck with me?  
><em>For a moment he was tempted not to go. Suddenly a pressure began to build in his ears, as though his head were locked in painless jaws. He shook his head violently several times and saw a shadow flicker behind his eyes. After a few more moments, the pressure relieved itself, and Lightning Strike sighed and headed towards the two cats.

Both turned expressions of dislike upon him. Lightning Strike was in no mood for politeness.  
>"Look, I know you both hate me. Guess what? I really don't care. If we're going to be stuck together for the next day or week or however long it is before we rejoin our missing counterparts, could we at least drop the evil stares?"<br>If possible, Dark Night grew more disdainful. However, for a second in Moon's Light's eyes, Lightning Strike thought he saw…amusement? He breathed out harshly through his nose.  
>"You don't think much of me, Dark Night, because I didn't kill my father." That was barely scratching the surface of his rivalry with the dark tom, but he didn't want to say anything else in public. "But imagine if it was your mother in the same place. I love my father. I could never have hurt him."<br>"He doesn't seem to think much of you," observed Dark Night.

"Well...I don't know about that. But if going on this pilgrimage has taught me anything, it's that beasts can surprise you. There's a chance Thunder's Roar could recover. I owe him that."  
>To his amazement, Moon's Light nodded reluctantly. "He deserves a chance to fight, at least," she muttered.<br>Dark Night sat down and curled his tail around his paws. "But he's in so much pain. It's clouding his mind. Surely it would be better to send him to your Mountain Wolf? Such a faithful servant should gain entry to your Svarga."  
>Lightning Strike tried to consider a way to make Dark Night understand. Finally he said, "If you found a kit, wandering in the cold, alone, sick, what would you do?" The Western King hesitated, and Lightning Strike pressed his advantage. "The kit has no family and no real future. It would be kinder to kill her. Would you?"<br>"…No," admitted Dark Night finally.  
>"And why not?"<br>"Because she's defenceless and deserves a chance to serve the Kingdom," he said. "I think I understand now."

"What you need to understand is the definition of kindness," Moon's Light growled, but softly. "There are many meanings for the word. It can refer to someone who is compassionate, understanding, tolerant, warm-hearted, generous, and agreeable. Is murder in any of those? The Mountain Wolf—or the Snow Leopard—decides when a cat's life should end."  
>Dark Night eyed them both. "Very well. I apologize for trying to kill your father."<br>"Accepted. And…" Lightning Strike hesitated, "I'm sorry for…for not making more of an effort. You may have been a complete jerk about it, but you had a point."  
>"Accepted," said Dark Night calmly. "You want to go into the forest beneath us?"<br>"I do. None of us can really climb those cliffs, even if we were strong enough to. The best we can hope for is to go into the forest and search for a pass."  
>"Those were my thoughts, as well," Dark Night admitted. "Then—"<p>

"Your Majesties!" interrupted Broken Heart, skidding to a halt from a full gallop. Her sides were heaving. "You need to see something."  
>"The gorge, we know," Lightning Strike reminded her.<br>"Not the gorge. They're…I don't know what they are. Please just come see."  
>Lightning Strike shrugged and followed his guardian, Dark Night following them a little way behind.<br>They approached a gentle slope that eased down into a little dip into the contours of the land before disappearing into a shroud of trees. Broken Heart led the two Kings through the undergrowth for a while before halting and crouching in a series of bushes on the edge of a little glade.  
>"Get down and be quiet," she whispered in as low a voice possible.<br>The two toms obeyed, falling to their shoulders and peering into the glade.  
>A series of scents occupied their noses. Some were pleasant, most were not, and all were strange.<br>One of the more delicious smells came from a bewildering black rectangular object that spat like a cat. Standing behind it, prodding it with what appeared to be a long stick, was the strangest creature Lightning Strike had ever seen.

It was tall—probably about four or five cat lengths from paws to head, and powerfully built. The creature was bizarrely standing on two of its legs, with one other hanging loosely at its side and the fourth holding—holding?—the stick. It had a very thin covering of hair and a large patch on the top of its head. Its skin was a rich shade of dark brown.  
>Its smell was strange, but not altogether unpleasant. To Lightning Strike, it reminded him of the scent of the wolves, and it had the same purpose in its movements. There was a slight hint of decay emanating from it, overlayed by the smell of flowers, wind and fire.<br>Perhaps one of the cats had made a slight movement, for the creature looked up. Its eyes were as dark as its skin, and they gleamed with intelligence and cunning.  
>Evidently it had poor senses, for it did not notice them crouching in the brush. It returned to the smell of cooking meat.<p>

Lightning Strike felt strange. Like when he had first met the wolves, where he had been unable to tell if they were enemies or not. With most beasts, it was simple._ Sova, amenokti, shuri tora _and _vaşaq _were enemies. Rodents and other birds were prey. But with this creature, the King gained the sense that it was a beast not unlike himself.  
>Without thinking he rose to his paws and stepped boldly into the clearing, holding his head high. Both Dark Night and Broken Heart gasped and hissed his name, but the ginger tabby ignored them, and padded towards the creature.<br>The creature's face creased when it saw Lightning Strike. For a moment it seemed to hesitate, and strangely its scent changed slightly; it became more fire and less flowery.  
>Then, with a confusion seeming to mirror Lightning Strike's own, the creature turned. It crouched, and Lightning Strike pulled back slightly, wondering if it was about to pounce. Then the creature slowly put out one of its spare paws.<p>

Lightning Strike didn't know what to do. Among cats, offering a paw was a sign of tentative affection. Was it the same for this creature? Ever so gently, the ginger cat reached forwards and touched his nose to the paw.  
>They remained still for a while after that, and the Eastern King noted that the creature's scent had grown sweeter. Suddenly it made a strange noise, and Lightning Strike flinched. The moment of strange connection had passed, and he began to quickly back away, pulling himself back between the bushes where Broken Heart and Dark Night still waited. The two cats scattered through the clump of trees the moment he reached them, but Lightning Strike hesitated and looked back over his shoulder.<p>

__The creature had seen him in the brush, but made no attempt to chase him. Instead, it made another strange noise, and though Lightning Strike had no comprehension of its words, he sensed it was a farewell of sorts.  
>Shivering, he followed his fellow cats back to their makeshift camp. He knew that no matter how old he grew and no matter what he forgot, the moment where he and the creature had made contact would never fade. For a moment, they had reached a strange understanding that can only come through silence, and he would carry it with him for the rest of his days.<p> 


	22. Chapter 20: The Shadow War Begins

_What does the old stag with broken antlers  
>Share with the white wolf cub?<br>It is not hide, nor hair, nor even bone  
>But this: Both take life to sustain their own.<br>Whether it be the stag slaying grass with teeth  
>Or the white cub hunting deep beneath<br>There is a law to the wild that remains still;  
>Born of sap and blood—Thou Shalt Kill.<em>

**Moon of Blue Snows  
>27<strong>**th**** Sun**

Lightning Strike glanced around him.  
>They had followed the shoulder of the land deep into the forest. To most cats' relief, the gorge's steep slope gentled slightly as they travelled. If the easing continued steadily, they could rejoin with their severed half in a few days.<br>The ginger tabby took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet scent of pine. He loved this place. The trees were taller than anything he'd ever seen. Although snow still fell here, and his senses told him that storms could lash this place just as fiercely as the barren peaks that he had once called home, the weather on the whole was warmer and milder. Most of the trees were pine, mixed in with the occasional bare branches of a deciduous tree.

And the prey! Lightning Strike had never seen so much. For the first time in almost as long as he could remember his belly was comfortably full. Likewise the cats around him were also satisfied.  
>If he listened carefully Lightning Strike could hear the sounds of cats hunting in the thick undergrowth. Most cats were unaccustomed to stalking among heavy cover and it would take them a few tries to perfect the technique. But he felt sure that most of them would master it before too long. As Rain Cloud had noted not-so-far-away, the current survivors were not fools.<br>The sun was dipping beneath the horizon now, and the royals had decided to stop and spend the night in this sweet-scented Eden before travelling again in the morning.

Lightning Strike had just decided to take a nap before he heard a rustling in the bushes. "Show yourself," he ordered calmly. The scent of Eastern Kingdom cat reached the glands in his mouth, but the familiar smell was neither as strong or pure as it used to be. With so much time spent together, the odour of both Kingdoms was beginning to mingle with not only each other but with their environment.  
>A stocky tom-cat pushed forwards. He was a pale tabby with long legs and large eyes. Lightning Strike frowned briefly, searching for the cat's name. With their original numbers drastically reduced, it wasn't hard.<br>"Rising Sun. What brings you here?"

Rising Sun cleared his throat and shuffled his paws nervously. He stared at the forest floor for a period. Finally gathering his courage, he raised his head and met Lightning Strike's gaze.  
>"Your Majesty," he mewed. Though he used the correct form of address, his tone wasn't as respectful as it might have been. It might have originally caused him concern, but times had changed.<br>"Yes?"  
>"Your Majesty, a few of us have been talking…and…well, we've been thinking."<br>_And for a moment there I thought it would be good news, _Lightning Strike thought wearily. He was annoyed that he hadn't noticed the collaboration between knights earlier. One rule that had remained constant throughout his time as both Prince and King was this: never allow a group of knights to chat unsupervised. Sometimes it could lead to treason. Other times it was just stupid. A few suns after he had been appointed as heir to the throne, Lightning Strike had stumbled across a group of knights intending to see who could be first to dislocate their own shoulder.  
>"And?" the ginger tabby prompted.<p>

Again the pale tabby looked away for a few moments. "It's a nice place here. Very nice."  
><em>Get on with it!<br>_"And, your Majesty, we were thinking. This place Mitternacht sent us to find…why don't we wait for a while before we look again?"  
>"Excuse me?" Lightning Strike said, politely.<br>"Because, even though it's warmer here, the fact remains it's still in the middle of Deep-Ice. And we don't know if we'll ever find a place like this for a long time. So we were talking about how we should maybe stay here until Melt-Ice, then start walking again?"  
>The King's eyes narrowed. "You want to turn your back on Mitternacht's ruling and abandon your friends and fellow knights on the other side of the gorge?"<p>

"Oh, well, we could send a few of the stronger knights who can keep walking ahead to meet up with the others and tell them our plans. We could even bring them back here. And we wouldn't be disobeying Mitternacht…just…delaying it. Until we're ready. It's only a moon, your Majesty."  
>Lightning Strike sighed. "I will take your thoughts into account, Rising Sun. But, you see, if we stayed here, I don't think we could convince anyone to leave again."<br>_Which is exactly what you have in mind, isn't it, knight?  
><em>Rising Sun took a few steps forwards. Too close.

"Your Majesty, I urge you to think carefully about this. You may have noticed that your power here isn't…what it was. I would hate to see the Kingdom divided on such a small issue."  
>"I'm not doing any dividing. All I'm saying is that, in the morning, we're leaving. If they want to stay, they can speak to me personally, and not rely on a mouthpiece!" He shot that into the undergrowth behind Rising Sun, knowing that the rest of his gang were hiding there.<br>The tabby knight sighed, swallowed, and unsheathed his claws. "I'm really sorry, your Majesty, but…I'm challenging you for the leadership of the Eastern Kingdom."  
>Lightning Strike nearly laughed. "What?"<br>Rising Sun crouched.  
><em>By the Wolf's kindness, he's serious.<em>

The tom sprung, and Lightning Strike stepped aside and smacked a paw cleanly into his ribs. The knight rolled from the impact and leaped to his paws. The two toms circled each other for a few moments before Rising Sun lunged forwards again with a heavy paw. Instead of dodging, as the other knight clearly expected him to do, Lightning Strike leaned towards him and grabbed the foot in his mouth and yanked backwards. Rising Sun cried out and lost his balance, scrabbling to find his three remaining paws before falling onto his belly. The ginger tabby released the paw and tore a talon through his opponent's ear, notching it. Before Rising Sun could react, Lightning Strike spun around and launched a tremendous kick with his back legs, sending the knight flying into a tree. His head smacked the trunk and he slumped to the ground, stunned.

Lightning Strike decided to stop playing with him and forced the knight onto his back, exposing his soft belly. He held a claw gently to the other cat's throat. Rising Sun went very still.  
>For a few moments Lightning Strike considered killing him. It was his right. The pale tabby had challenged him to a dominance fight and he had failed. Now his act was considered treason.<br>And yet Lightning Strike was reluctant to slay him. Their numbers were too few as it was. Besides, he was clearly the leader of the strange rebellion and the ginger tabby would rather have him alive and humiliated rather than dead and martyred. He stepped away. Rising Sun scrambled to his paws and bolted.

"_Ignav_," the King muttered before heading back to his own camp.  
>When he arrived Broken Heart approached him at once. She tilted her head.<br>"Rising Sun?" she mewed. Lightning Strike grunted. "I wish you had warned me."  
>"I didn't know they were planning to challenge you. I thought it was just another one of their grumbling sessions."<br>"Well, anyway," he sighed, "it's done. What else is new?"  
>Broken Heart met his gaze. "One of the pages is dead."<br>A few days ago the news would not have surprised him. Now he frowned. "How?"  
>"It looks like she was killed by a predator. Strange though. It didn't try to eat her." Broken Heart's tone carried something in it.<br>Lightning Strike sighed. "You think it was the _tulagver."_

_Tulagver _was the name they had given the strange creature Lightning Strike had met the previous sun. It had clearly been intelligent, earning it the name of _ver, _but without any other beast to compare it to, they had simply called it _tulag, _or nameless.  
>Many generations later cats would mistakenly assume that the word referred to the odd habit the creature had of walking on its hind legs and speak of it as Twoleg.<br>"I do. It had meat when we saw it."  
>Lightning Strike shook his head slowly. "I don't think so."<br>"I smelled its scent. It's a hunter. You can't deny that."  
>"But it had no claws or sharp teeth or anything to kill an animal by."<br>Broken Heart chewed her lip in doubt. "It's still dangerous, and we should be careful."  
>"I know," he replied.<p>

His guardian looked up. "There's another thing. His mother…she's upset. To put it mildly."  
>"His mother's with us?"<br>"Yes. It's sad. He was one of the last of the pages."  
>Lightning Strike blinked in sympathy for the unknown mother. Despite their best efforts to keep the younger generation alive, there were only five or six pages left.<br>He noticed Broken Heart watching him, an odd look on her face. "What is it?" he asked.  
>She sighed. "It's nothing. It's just…I wanted kits once. Still do, in a way."<br>The ginger tabby frowned. "Then have them. Once we're at our new home."  
>"But that means I'd have to give up being a guardian. Never fight again. Be a maiden for life. I don't want that. And I don't want to have kits with a tom I don't know or care about. I want a mate, like your mother had."<p>

Lightning Strike frowned and traced a paw in the dirt. He remembered that before they had been separated, two cats named Blue Sky and Fading Shadows had been in love. He was sure that there were others who were keeping it secret.  
>And Drifting Snowflakes…<br>"Tell you what," he said abruptly, "when we get there, I'm making a new law."  
>She eyed him, puzzled.<br>"I'm going to pass a law that says all she-cats can love whoever they want. And if they have kits they can return to being a knight once they're pages."  
>Broken Heart gave him a sad smile. "I don't think the council would let you pass that," she mewed, "but thank you for trying."<br>"If it doesn't work I'm promoting you to duchess. Then you can have your kits." Duchesses were the only she-cats, aside from Queens, permitted to return to duty after childbirth.  
>Broken Heart smiled at him again before disappearing into the kindle of cats. <p>

_Later That Night_

Lightning Strike was dreaming.  
>He was alone in the dark. Total darkness. So shadowy was the world around him that he could not see more than a few cat-lengths in front of him.<br>Everything was silent except for the sound of his own heart, pulsing life and warmth around his fragile flesh.  
>Or was the world silent?<br>The ginger tabby strained his neck looking left and right, trying to see something, anything—  
><em>Hello? Is anyone listening?<br>_—but the darkness was unrelenting.  
><em>…I'm lost.<em>

__He had the strange sensation that someone was calling him. He took a few steps in a random direction, but the voice was in his head, not out of it.  
><em>I can feel your spirit. Where are you?<br>_A growl sounded behind him, and Lightning Strike turned slowly. A scent buffeted his nose—a scent of blood, death and pain.  
>His eyes widened as he took in the monster that stood before him, the monster with legs the size of tree-trunks and fangs as long as stalactites.<br>The monster snarled again and spat something at his feet. Lightning Strike looked down.  
>It was Drifting Snowflakes' head.<p>

_"_No! NO!" he yowled, gnashing his teeth so hard he felt something chip. His heart was thundering in his ears as he turned to run. But the ground beneath his paws had turned to thick mud and he sank up to his belly…  
>He felt teeth pierce his neck, and then—<br>He woke up.  
>Lightning Strike sat awake, gasping, his paws drenched in sweat and shivering. Beside him, Broken Heart murmured something before rolling over.<br>_It's okay, it's okay, _he told himself. _Just a dream._

There was no moon, but the stars twinkled brightly in the clear night sky. It was easily enough light to see by, and he glanced around, feeling comforted by the familiar scents of his fellow cats.  
>Nightmares. Would he ever be free of them?<br>And yet, as he licked his ruffled fur, the memory of the dream slid from his mind, so that by the time he'd finished he wasn't sure if he'd dreamed at all.  
>He was still wide awake and decided to go for a walk. He had managed to forget Broken Heart's report of a cat-killer prowling the forest and delicately stepped over slumbering cats. As he approached the boundary, he frowned. Where were the sentries?<br>A gentle snore gave him his answer. Exhausted and full, they hadn't been able to keep awake for more than a few hours. Shaking his head, Lightning Strike continued.

He trailed his way through the thick trees, reminded eerily of the night where he had seen Mitternacht with his waking eyes. Briefly he wondered if the Father of Cats would appear to him tonight, for Lightning Strike had more questions than ever before.  
>Then he heard something rustle in the undergrowth. He turned.<br>With a sense of dreamy déjà vu he noted the vast red eyes glaring back at him. The eyes were up high—far higher than he could reach. Whatever carried them was large beyond comprehension.  
>Some part of his brain hadn't quite fully processed the danger he was in yet and Lightning Strike peered forwards, trying to see past those gleaming red orbs.<br>Suddenly the ground trembled beneath his paws and Lightning Strike realised that it was about to attack. He bolted.

The monster crashed after him, thundering through the forest. It was gaining on him with every stride, and in a bizarre flash of inspiration, Lightning Strike realised there was only one direction he could go—up.  
>In the Eastern Kingdom there were few trees, and the ones that did exist were usually far too slender to be any real challenge. But these pine trees were tall and had almost no branches.<br>_Come on, _he told himself, _what's this climb but a sprint straight up?_  
>He sprang on to the nearest tree and sank his claws in just enough to hold his balance without sinking too deep. His muscles strained as he scrambled higher, reminding him that after weeks of hunger he wasn't in the physical condition he used to be. The ground dropped away alarmingly fast and the ginger tabby froze, gripping the trunk.<p>

A roar of fury echoed beneath him, but he was too high to be reached. No matter how hard he looked he could not see anything below except the blood-red eyes circling the base of the tree. Gritting his teeth, Lightning Strike hung on. Time blurred, but he continued to hang on.  
>The cold night air stung at his muscles, but eventually a shaft of light brightened the world around him. The sky began to pale. When he next looked down, the monster had vanished into thin air.<br>Lightning Strike closed his eyes and counted to three hundred before slowly loosening his grip and sliding down the trunk. He was just about to head back towards camp when a hoarse mew stopped him in his tracks.  
>Fearing another attack, he hesitated before allowing his ears to guide him. Before too long he was picking up another scent—blood.<p>

He nearly tripped over the body. At first he thought that the monster had slain another one of his cats, but the shallow rise and fall and the strange scent revealed the truth.  
>Holly Leaf struggled to breathe, blood pouring freely from deep bites and tears in her flesh. It was red, but glittered strangely. Lightning Strike crouched beside her and watched as her green eyes opened.<br>She reached forwards with a paw and touched him. He felt a tingling heat gather in that spot and begin to flow towards his heart. It was not so much her speaking as it was the soul that formed her body connecting with his own _cyth._

_Don't worry about me, _Holly Leaf told him. _I'll recover. Just carry me to a place where there are many living cats. I'll take a small bit of energy from them to rebuild myself.  
><em>"What attacked you?" Lightning Strike asked.  
><em>I'm so sorry. He tricked me. I thought I had kept him from entering this world, but I hadn't. He only pretended to be trapped.<br>_"Who was he?"  
>Holly Leaf shuddered. <em>You call him Cold Night. And my stupidity may have doomed you all.<br>_"Cold Night…" whispered Lightning Strike. He could scarcely believe it. "He's haunting us?"  
><em>In a way. Yes.<em>

__Lightning Strike let out a growl. "I'll fight him. I'll kill him."  
><em>Perhaps you could have, once,<em> she said softly. _But he isn't what he was in his mortal form. He is a monster. He breaks hearts and steals souls. From those souls, he has shaped a new body, one more powerful than his last.  
><em>"And he's going to attack the Kingdoms?"  
><em>He can't yet. He's not strong enough to survive outside of night, and the fact that your group has separated is confusing him. It's only a matter of time, though. He is wiser than when he tried this, last time.<br>_"Last time? You mean, this has happened before?"  
><em>So, so long ago. Before my time. Your Kingdoms know the story. It's tied in to how the flesh sacrifices were stopped. Rain Cloud would know.<br>_"We don't have Rain Cloud. If she's alive, then she's on the other side, with Drifting Snowflakes and the others."

_The bitter she-cat—she who you nearly sacrificed—she would know it too, for it names her mentor.  
><em>"You mean Moon's Light?"  
><em>Is that her name? Wake her, Lightning Strike. Ask her to tell you the story of Felidae's daughter, White Fire. Once I recover, I'll find Rain Cloud and ask her the same.<br>_Lightning Strike swallowed, nodded, and gently picked up the _arima _in his jaws, to carry her back to camp and to the story that would change his life forever.


	23. Chapter 21: The Legend Of White Fire

_I'm breaking through  
>I'm bending spoons<br>I'm keeping flowers in full bloom  
>I'm looking for answers in the great beyond.<em>

**NB: With no offence intended to Moon's Light, the story used here is Rain Cloud's version, as she is more gifted with regards to storytelling.**

It was in the days of long ago when White Fire was born.  
>It was a time not long after the covenant was made with the <em>canaver, <em>when Mitternacht had begun to fade from the mountains and exist only in stories. His mate Felidae was barely known at all.  
>At this time, there were no female knights. She-cats existed only as a way of birthing new males, and they had no say in any affairs. It was not uncommon for the King to have many mates and even more kits.<p>

So while Mitternacht was praised and beloved by the Kingdoms, Felidae was left to slide into the mists of forgotten myth. The lessons she taught went unheeded and the virtues she represented were considered useless.  
>Because of this great forgetting, this devaluing, we know almost nothing of Felidae, not even what she looks like. Some say she is the same as her mate; a plain tabby. Others say she is beautiful beyond the dreams of mortals with golden fur and blue eyes. Yet another version claims that she represents the mysteries and subtlety of nature and as a result she is shadow-black with green eyes.<br>The story I believe, however, is that Felidae has no true form at all. She changes according to the eyes of the cats who see her, and is invisible to anyone else. For if it is Mitternacht who represents the unyielding will and strength of the warrior, then it is Felidae who must symbolize the deception and secrecy of the hunter.

What is Felidae like? Again, we know precious little. Most of what is passed down through the stories is contradicting. She did appear to be gentle and loving towards her mate and kits, but brutal and unforgiving to her enemies.  
>The last thing that I must mention before delving deeper into White Fire's story is this. Felidae had many kits, of course; that's where we come from. But she touched none of them with her power. None of them, that is, except for White Fire.<br>We begin.  
>At this time, Kingdom cats feared their gods. They thought that if they failed to do certain things, the Wolf and the Leopard would turn on them and destroy them. That the prey would stop running and the streams would be poisoned. That the great storms that lashed the mountains would kill them all in their sleep.<p>

So, to prove their devotion to their gods, they held sacrifices.  
>Where this tradition began is unclear, but we do know that cats used to set aside parts of their kills to give thanks to the gods. Perhaps it merely extended from there after a particularly harsh season.<br>Twice a year, in the first new moon of Short-Days and the first full moon of Melt-Ice, the Kingdoms would gather in a section of territory in the West where a rock curls over in a wave. There, a monster lived. The monster claimed to speak for the gods and that they demanded sacrifice. His true name was never known, but the Kingdoms knew him as Shadow Heart. For he felt no mercy, no love, no kindness. He spoke only in cruelty. He laughed only when violence was being done.  
>There was nothing inside him except darkness.<p>

But he was feared. He could make things happen. When once a Kingdom refused a sacrifice, he had called an avalanche to wipe out a third of their knights.  
>Then he had demanded another sacrifice.<br>His servants were the_vaşaq, _the bobcats, and they walked among the Kingdom cats, searching for a worthy sacrifice.  
>His demands were quite simple. On each of these occasions, four cats were to be presented to him, one from each Kingdom. One was the most beautiful she-cat. Another was the strongest. A third was the most cunning. And last was the one considered to be closest to the gods—an <em>ameslari.<em>

__The _vaşaq _would scour the Kingdoms for cats that met these criteria all throughout the year. The Kingdoms that gave up each kind of cat changed regularly—the Eastern Kingdom who gave up the most beautiful cat one season would give up its most intelligent the next, for example.  
>On these nights, the cats would be given to Shadow Heart. He would touch them in a vaguely sexual manner before biting the tips of their ears to taste their blood.<br>He then took each one into his den and slaughtered them. Their corpses, missing their eyes and hearts, were thrown to the _vaşaq, _who would feast, earning themselves the meaning of their names—sacrifice thieves. The Kingdoms would disperse.  
>Life would go on.<p>

Until one day a spy from the Southern Kingdom went nosing around in Western Kingdom territory. There, he discovered a cave full of shining rainbows, and deep inside, a tortoiseshell she-cat with opal eyes.  
>"I know why you're here," the she-cat said darkly. "This is your lucky day, though. I won't throw you to the Western knights." She nodded at a small bundle near her. "I would consider your debt to me paid in full if you carried that back to your Kingdom."<br>The spy flattened his ears. "What is it?"  
>"See for yourself."<br>He did so, and touched his nose gently to a sleeping she-kit. She was pure white from head to tail, the only drop of colour her pale pink nose.

The spy looked up belligerently. "Why should I take care of her?"  
>The tortoiseshell answered distantly: "Because she is who you have betrayed. She is the one you have forsaken. Because she is everything to you, and your Kingdom."<br>The spy hesitated, but there was stone now in the rainbow eyes and he picked up the white kit. She did not even whimper, but continued to sleep soundly.  
>"Who are you?" he said through a mouthful of fur.<br>The she-cat smiled. "Me? I'm the guardian of the Kingdoms. I keep you all from flying off into the dark. Guard that kit with your life, and be gone."  
>The spy had returned to the Southern Kingdom then. At first, his fellow knights had been suspicious of the kit, and many claimed that he had fathered it himself with an enemy she-cat. The spy refused and pointed out that the little kit was an albino, a trait that had never been seen in any Kingdom cat—only <em>ver.<em>

__In the end it was the King who solved the matter. Tainted bloodline or not, a maiden was a maiden. They were less than dirt in the eyes of the gods anyway. A healthy maiden could produce forty kits in her lifetime. Of them, probably twelve would become knights. That was nothing to sneeze at.  
>So the kit was kept, and she was named White Fire because when she walked in the sunlight her fur glittered brightly.<br>As White Fire grew two things became apparent. Firstly, despite being an albino, she was large and powerful, easily capable of holding her own against the male kits she fought with. Secondly—and most importantly—she was very beautiful. Perhaps the most beautiful in all the Kingdoms. The King was pleased that his early decision to save the lone kit was paying dividends. If she was ordered by Shadow Heart as a sacrifice, it would mean no loss.

One morning, when all the male kits her age were having their page ceremonies, White Fire trotted in line with the rest of them. The maiden who had mothered her tried to pull her out of the line. "It's not your place," she said.  
>"Why not?" little White Fire asked. "I'm just as strong as them, and I'm faster."<br>The maiden thought this over. "It's the way things are done here, sweetpaws." For though the little one was not her own, she loved her dearly all the same.  
>White Fire didn't move. The King came out of his den under the roots of a tree and saw the white kit standing boldly with the others.<br>"No she-kits," he said.  
>"Why not?" repeated White Fire.<br>"The gods would be angry."

"Isn't one of the gods—the Snow Leopard—a she-cat? Why would a female be angry that another female is a knight?"  
>The King, who despite himself was fond of the she-kit, sighed. "I don't know. But I can't go against Kingdom law."<br>"Just give me a chance, Your Majesty," pleaded White Fire. "If I fail at being a page, you can make me a maiden. I won't argue." She stared up at him with her pink eyes.  
>The King reluctantly agreed. So for the next four moons, White Fire hunted with her fellow pages. She was strong and swift and was soon regarded as by far the best hunter. But rumours were spreading throughout the other Kingdoms. That a female had dared to defy the natural order.<br>One night, when White Fire was safely asleep in her den, a pair of _vaşaq _slipped into the Southern Kingdom camp and spoke with the King in the privacy of the den. The bobcats were never seen again, but the next morning the King's claws and teeth were stained red.

Eventually the sun dawned where all the pages would be promoted to squires. The air was heavy with apprehension, as the first full moon of Melt-Ice was only a few suns away, and the demands of Shadow Heart would be known very soon.  
>This time, the King had no hesitation in squiring White Fire, who had grown even stronger and more lovely. Her fur was luscious and thick, her shoulders broad, her smile gentle. Nobody in the Kingdom disliked her anymore; her kindness and generosity had won them over.<br>So when the _vaşaq _appeared with the names of the sacrifices, the Kingdom wailed as one. White Fire was named as the most beautiful she-cat in the Kingdoms. Her life was measured in days, now.  
>It was an odd scene. In previous seasons, no matter how popular the demanded sacrifice was, nobody protested or challenged the order.<p>

This time, though, once the bobcats had gone, the maiden who had mothered White Fire stepped forwards. She proposed the most daring plan they had ever heard; faking White Fire's death.  
>"If they think she is dead, then we can save her," she explained. "We can hide her. I'll rub mud and berry juice into her fur so that she will be ugly and not known to them."<br>"But," protested White Fire, "this means that one of you will have to take my place!"  
>The Southern Kingdom looked at each other for a long while. Then the maiden smiled. "I'm not as beautiful as you, White Fire, but I think I will do."<br>"Mother, you can't! I won't let you!" burst out White Fire, but the King stamped his paw.  
>"If you are willing to do this, she-cat, then I thank you." He gripped the back of White Fire's neck with his teeth and dragged her wailing to his den. He ordered three knights to guard her while the sacrifices took place in the West.<p>

It was not enough. Somehow White Fire overpowered her guards, though she did not kill them. She raced over hill and stream, following her mother's scent.  
>The cats of the Kingdoms were gathered in a vast crowd. The four sacrifices were pushed to the front. A huge Northern tom, clearly the strongest knight, was trying to stop himself from quivering. A dark grey Eastern tom-cat hunched his shoulders and stared at the floor. White Fire's mother was holding her head high. The last she-cat, the <em>ameslari, <em>merely looked around. Suddenly her eyes landed on the place where White Fire was hiding. She gave the white she-cat a dreamy smile.  
>One of the bobcats shoved White Fire's mother with its nose. "You are not the right cat," it hissed in its rasping voice.<p>

"The she-cat you asked for is dead," the Southern King said. "Once she learned of her fate, she swallowed poison berries. We could do nothing."  
>The bobcat looked as though it very much doubted this when a roar echoed from within the depths of the wave rock. Shadow Heart was hungry.<br>The bobcat let out an ugly snarl. "Very well, then." It pushed the maiden towards the shadows.  
>White Fire leapt out of her hiding spot. "NO!"<br>Her cry was echoed by a terrible voice deep within. _What is this? Where is the she-cat I asked for?  
><em>"I'm here," White Fire called, padding to the edge of the shadows. "I'm here."

A shape of darkness leaned out of the shadows. _Yes. You. Come here.  
><em>The Southern Kingdom moaned softly.  
>"No," said White Fire, and took several steps back. "I'm not going to you."<br>_If you don't, I will slay your mother instead.  
><em>"You're not doing that, either," White Fire snarled. "You are not killing anyone from my Kingdom, ever again."  
>"No, little one," said the Southern King. "He will kill us all!"<p>

"He won't, because he can't," she said boldly. "Don't you get it? The avalanche that killed those knights all those seasons ago—that was an accident, a force of nature. He only said he made it happen." She appealed to all the Kingdoms. "Go on! Leave. Take the cats you would have murdered with you. You will owe them a lot, but all debts are paid in time."  
>Nobody moved, and the darkness began to laugh cruelly. This seemed to goad the Southern King, and he stood up and ordered his knights to move.<br>None disagreed. As one, they raced away towards their camp.

For the next moon the Southern Kingdom lived in terrible fear of retribution. Eventually, though, they realised that White Fire was right. Nothing happened. They gradually lost their terror and continued on as usual.  
>During this time, White Fire's mother grew sick. The Kingdom could do nothing to help her, and she died.<br>This sorrow almost broke White Fire's heart. She ran into the Field to grieve, at the time owned by her own Kingdom, and nearly knocked down a tortoiseshell she-cat with rainbow eyes.

The other she-cat didn't say anything, merely climbing to her paws and shaking the dust off her pelt. Perhaps that was what drew White Fire to her. Her silence. White Fire had heard noise all her life—mostly terrible; it was such a relief to hear nothing that she followed the tortoiseshell quietly from behind, watching with surprise as the she-cat nipped leaves off of trees and digging up roots.  
>"My mother's dead," burst out White Fire as she saw this.<br>The tortoiseshell nodded. "I know."  
>"Why are you taking bits of plants?"<br>The she-cat tilted her head. "Are you sad, little one?"  
>White Fire nodded. The cat continued. "Do you want anyone else to feel your pain?"<br>"No! Never."

"These are healing herbs. If you learn what they look like and how to use them, you can cure your Kingdom mates when they are ill or wounded."  
>"Can they bring back the dead?" White Fire asked. The tortoiseshell shook her head. "But the dead are always with us, in a way—as long as you don't forget them. They live on in our memories."<br>"Cats can't remember things."  
>"They could, if they really tried—but they don't. It's like the sacrifices."<br>White Fire shuddered. "I'll makethem stop. One day."  
>"No," answered the tortoiseshell. "You shouldn't <em>make<em> anyone do anything. If you do, you are taking away their freedom and their right to choose, and there is almost no greater evil than that. The other Kingdoms think that if they fail to appease Shadow Heart, the gods will be angry with them. Don't make, show. Show them another way, little one. Show them the way of the healer."  
>"How do I do that?"<p>

"There are many sicknesses in the world. Some you can help with herbs. But others are in the _cyth_ and they need a different kind of healing. They need silence, and someone who can listen. It's harder than you might think."  
>"How is listening hard?"<br>"It's hard because you shouldn't make any judgements. Not even in your own head. You shouldn't tell them what they need to do, or what they can't do. You shouldn't tell anyone else what they've said. Think of everything that every cat has said to you as a secret."  
>"Is this a secret?"<br>"Indeed it is—but as you'll get older, you'll realise that there are some secrets that everyone should know, just as some common knowledge should be secret. Listen closely now, and I'll tell you all the herbs in the mountains."

So from the strange tortoiseshell White Fire learned the arts of healing, and she brought them back to her Kingdom. When a knight tripped and fractured his paw, White Fire wrapped it in leaves and licked it. Within a few hours, it was completely healed. When a litter caught the kitten-cough, White Fire crushed roots into a syrup and dripped it down their throats. Again, very soon it was as though they were never ill.  
>Again, rumours began to spread of a healer in the Southern Kingdom who could cure any disease and mend what was broken. In the depths of the night cats would visit White Fire, asking for herbs. Just as the tortoiseshell had prophesized, some cats didn't want plants. They wanted to cure the bitter darkness inside them.<br>They wanted to be forgiven.

Throughout this time White Fire began to have strange and powerful dreams. She dreamed of a she-cat that changed colour and spoke to her. This she-cat would often tell her of future events that could harm not only her Kingdom, but the others.  
>One night, for instance, she dreamed that a storm would cause an avalanche and wipe out the Eastern Kingdom camp. She informed their knights. Their King originally would not have moved, but one of his sons had been very ill and close to death until White Fire saved him. The King agreed, and the next day her prophecy came true—while the Eastern Kingdom was on the other side of their territory.<p>

Of course, Shadow Heart could have hardly not heard of this. But it was Bright-Sun, the season where he was weakest, so he merely bided his time.  
>He had future dreams of his own.<br>Eventually White Fire was knighted; but the shadows of Short-Days were approaching, and Shadow Heart was growing in power again.  
>Then he made his demand for his sacrifice.<br>_Give me White Fire, _he said through his _vaşaq_. _Give her to me, or I will emerge from my den and slay you all. I will kill you in the most painful ways you can imagine.  
><em>"We're not giving her up," the Southern King said grimly. "You may be strong, but we are many."  
>And yet as the new moon approached, fear began to infect the Kingdoms like a disease. An illness that White Fire could not cure, for all her herbs and kindness.<p>

Two days before the sacrifice, the Southern King approached White Fire. "You must leave," he growled. "I do not know what the Kingdoms will do, including my own. I think they will give you up, if you stay."  
>White Fire had agreed and disappeared. Nobody really knows where she went or what she did, but there were reports of a large white cat running up and down hills, yowling to the sky, slashing rocks with her claws.<br>Then, on the eve of the sacrifice, the Kingdoms gathered under the wave rock. They waited.  
>And eventually White Fire appeared, a pale shadow of her former self. Her tail was tucked between her legs and her eyes were huge.<br>The Kingdom cats looked at each other. Then they grabbed her and dragged her to the darkness.  
><em>Not enough, <em>Shadow Heart said. _You must all kill her. Or I will slay you._

__Again there was a brief pause before a wave of movement. The Kingdom cats rushed forwards and grabbed her. For a time she was completely invisible under the mound of writhing yet eerily silent cats. Then they pulled away, leaving her broken, crushed body lying at the paws of the shadows.  
>And Shadow Heart laughed.<br>_Dear fools, _he said. _You have slain your saviour. She was the only one who could have defeated me. But you were so desperate to save your own pelts that you killed her without a second thought. The sin you have committed—the sundering of innocence, the murder of hope—is evil in its purest form. It is within you all, now. You are all guilty. You are all monsters.  
>You are all mine.<em>

__And as he spoke, strands of darkness grew from his body like vines. They connected to the hearts of every Kingdom cat, and they wailed in pain and horror, for the darkness was consuming them.  
>Just when it looked like they would all be dragged into his swelling body, a light appeared. A light on a night where there was no moon, and the stars were hidden under a skein of cloud. It stepped between Shadow Heart and the Kingdom cats.<br>Everyone gasped, for it was White Fire—but it was also more. She was more beautiful and terrible than anything seen on this earth.  
><em>Who are you? <em>demanded Shadow Heart.  
><em>I am Felidae.<em>

__She reared up on her hind legs and slammed into the stone beneath her paws. There was a screeching sound as the wave rock above them began to divide. The tip of the curving wave section of rock cracked and leaped free, tumbling to the ground and crushing the darkness beneath it.  
>Shadow Heart was no more.<br>With a sigh, Felidae stepped back and stomped the stone again. This time, the tip of the wave floated up and rejoined itself with the rest of its body. It was as though it had never been broken.  
>Then she turned to survey the Kingdoms. They trembled at her feet. But at last a small maiden crawled forwards on her belly.<p>

"Please," she said. "You're so beautiful. I would rather be killed by you than by anything else."  
>Felidae said nothing, her eyes seeming to meet every other cat's. The Northern King climbed to his paws.<br>"Your Majesty," he said respectfully, "please forgive us. We will sacrifice anything—"  
>Felidae roared, one of the most awful sounds ever heard.<br>_No! No more sacrifices. Not in flesh and blood.  
><em>A whisper broke out among the Kingdoms. "But what will we do to appease the gods?"  
><em>Nothing, <em>Felidae replied. _They do not need your prayers or your gifts. They made those things—why would they want them back?_

__Silence.  
><em>You have a debt to pay, <em>Felidae said. _In fact, I am not sure if it can be repaid. What Shadow Heart said is true. You have committed a sin, and the evil will reside in your hearts forever. It will whisper in your thoughts like the voice of a serpent.  
>But it can be ignored. In fact, it must be ignored, or you are all doomed. Shadow Heart will return. I know not when, or what form he will take, but he will attempt to steal your souls once more. And the only way to defeat him is with your own hearts.<br>At this time, there is more evil in the world than good. The balance must be restored. So now, you must do one good act—something so pure and compassionate that the darkness will fade. Tell me, what will you do?_

__The cats remained silent for a very long time. But at last the Southern King stepped forwards.  
>"I will give all the she-cats within my Kingdom equality with toms. I will let them become knights and dukes. I will choose a mate to rule beside me."<br>_And how is this compassionate? _It was a genuine question._  
><em>"It is compassionate because I am giving them their freedom—the freedom to make their own choices and live life as they will. If they want to have kits, they can. If they want to hunt and fight, they can. If they want to rule, they can. A she-cat told me once that forcing someone into doing something is one of the worst crimes ever. So isn't fixing that wrong one of the best?"  
>The faintest hint of a smile blossomed across Felidae's face. <em>It is.<br>_Her body began to disappear, her white fur fading into the night. A wind stirred the sky, and the clouds lifted, showing the silent stars in all their glory.


	24. Chapter 22: Gentle One

_Frith lies in the evening sky. The clouds are red about him.__  
><em>_I am here, Lord Frith, I am running through the long grass.__  
><em>_O take me with you, dropping behind the woods,__  
><em>_Far away, to the heart of light, the silence.  
>I will go with you, I will be of-the-sky,<em>_  
><em>_For I am ready to give you my breath, my life,__  
><em>_The shining circle of the sun, the sun and the world._

**Moon of Blue Snows  
>28<strong>**th**** Sun**

"Was the cat in the story your ancestor?" Drifting Snowflakes asked.  
>Fire Opal nodded slowly. "In a way."<br>"Did you know of White Fire before Rain Cloud told us?"  
>"Yes."<br>"Then—can you answer me something? Why did White Fire agree to leave her Kingdom, then change her mind and go to the sacrifice gathering?"  
>Fire Opal sighed. "She had a vision from Felidae. Felidae informed her that the only way to heal the Kingdoms was for them to realise how close they were to fading into shadow. Simply saying it wasn't enough. She had to prove it."<p>

"But if Shadow Heart didn't need White Fire, why did he ask for her?"  
>"He did need her. That's not what she meant. Before her birth, the Kingdom cats truly believed that their lives would be lost if they failed to appease Shadow Heart. So their sacrifices were, in a terrible way, innocent. Even when White Fire appeared to save her foster-mother's life, they had no evidence to think that retribution would not be brought upon them. It was afterwards, when in their heart of hearts they learned that Shadow Heart could not touch them, that evil was growing. They had no excuses then. It was sad, though. White Fire never really believed her Kingdom would kill her until she saw their faces."<p>

Drifting Snowflakes shivered slightly. "I could never have done it. Give myself up like that."  
>"Well, hopefully you won't have to. But don't compare yourself to her. White Fire wasn't really an ordinary cat; she was a fragment of Felidae's power, given breath and voice. The gods hold their laws of interference very seriously—only a true mortal can change the world." Fire Opal walked on ahead, leaving Drifting Snowflakes alone with her thoughts for a time.<br>The sides that enclosed the gorge were now dropping dramatically—it was scarcely higher than her head. Tomorrow, the rock would level out and it would only be water separating her from the other cats. The mountains where they had made their home seemed very far away now.

Drifting Snowflakes wandered away from the main group of walking cats. She couldn't lose them; their scent was clear and pungent. But she could see the final rank of mountains ahead of her and she didn't know what would be beyond that, so she wanted to keep this green place to herself for a while.  
>Beyond the mountains. In a time that was not actually that long ago, but seemed to her an eternity ago, Drifting Snowflakes had not believed that such an idea existed. Oh, she had been <em>told <em>of other places, for certain. But it was one thing to hear Rain Cloud vaguely reference 'somewhere else' and another to see it with your own eyes.  
>She remembered her dream of Mitternacht, standing in a grassy glade with high, smooth trunks above her head. Beyond the mountains, did those places exist?<p>

She drifted along for a while, absorbed in her thoughts, when a new odour entered her senses. She froze and pricked up her ears. The scent was strange. She had never scented it before, she knew that; but it was familiar to her nonetheless. It was like a cat, but heavier-built, and infinitely more lonely.  
>Drifting Snowflakes tilted her head from side to side, drawing the scent past the glands in her mouth. Slowly she began to follow it, and it led her to a small den hidden in the roots of a pine tree.<br>"Hello?" she said, cautiously.  
>A strange growling noise emitted from within the den. Drifting Snowflakes backed away. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just—"<p>

A silver shape emerged from the den, and she let out a mewl of shock. It was the beast she'd dreamed about, the night before she had left the Kingdoms forever.  
>"<em>Chantame<em>," she breathed.  
>"What was that?" it said.<br>Drifting Snowflakes attempted a friendly smile, but felt her mouth quiver slightly in the event. The _ver _returned her smile, only a hair less oddly than her own.  
>"What did you call me?" it prodded.<br>"Um—_chantame. _It's…what we call your kind. What is your name?"  
>The animal frowned. "Don't really have a name. Never been in a crowd." He thought for a moment. "Chantame," he said, tasting the word. "I like it. You may call me that, if you want." He gave her a proper smile this time.<br>"I'm Drifting Snowflakes," she managed to say, still trying to get over the shock of seeing a face from her dreams.

"Well, Drifting Snowflakes, what brings you to my humble abode?"  
>"Oh, I was just wandering, really. My Kingdom—my group—is further away."<br>"Kingdom, eh? Can't say I ever heard of it. And I've heard of a lot." Chantame scratched his ear with his hind leg.  
>"We come from very far away," she mewed.<br>His eye gleamed. "How far?"  
>Drifting Snowflakes let her eyes travel upwards. "See that rank of mountains over there? That's where we used to live. But then one of the mountains collapsed, and we had nowhere to go. So we left."<br>Chantame followed her gaze. He flicked his tail, impressed. "That's quite a journey. Where do you go now?"

"We—we're not really sure. We're just following the river, really. We've got no clue what's beyond this."  
>"I can tell you that."<br>The silver tabby's eyes widened. "You can? Seriously?"  
>"Sure. I've been there a few times. Right at the foot of these mountains, there's an expanse of land. Like a prairie, only it's completely barren. Nothing there except rock, stone and that river you're talking about."<p>

"Oh," whispered Drifting Snowflakes. Her head drooped. In her heart, she had been hoping that the place they were supposed to find lay at the base of the stone behemoths. She was shattered to find that more walking was required. So lost in her own thoughts was she that she missed Chantame speaking again.  
>"…moorland, then pine forest, then a broadleaf wood—"<br>"What?" she interrupted.  
>Chantame gave her a wry look. "I hadn't finished. Beyond that barren land, there's a stretch of moorland."<br>"What is moorland?"  
>"A moorland is a space of grass, small shrubs, heather, and a few rivers and streams. Very beautiful, if you like that sort of thing. Me, I prefer trees and snow. I'm not fast enough to catch the prey that runs there."<br>"There is prey there?"

"Rabbits and birds, mostly. You might be agile enough to catch them."  
>"And beyond that?"<br>"Well, it sort of splits. To the north of the moor there's a thick patch of woodland, lots of rivers and streams. To the west of the moor there's a light pine forest. Sort of like this, really. I haven't been beyond that but I've met creatures who have, and they say that there's a dark, ancient, forest and a space of thorny scrub."  
>A bubble of happiness began to swell within Drifting Snowflakes. "This barren land—how long would it take to cross it?"<br>"A few hours? Depends how fast you walk."

Drifting Snowflakes had been calculating journeys in days and weeks. To hear such a short span of time stunned her briefly. _This is it, _she thought. _After all this walking, after all our pain, we've finally found a place to call our own.  
><em>Then a darker thought shattered her bubble. _Yes, good on you, you made it. But Cold Night is still hunting us, and he's getting stronger. You could be all dead before you reach there.  
><em>"Thank you, thank you so much for telling me this," she said fervently. "I'll leave you in peace now."  
>"It's all right. I was actually about to ask if I could hang around your group for a bit. Sometimes I like being alone, but other times it gets…well…lonely."<p>

"Of course. But we'd better go now, before we fall too far behind."  
>So Chantame joined the Kingdom group, and when the news broke to the Kingdom cats how close they were to their goal, a large number of them leaped for joy and chased each other like kits. Rain Cloud slumped briefly to the ground, her shoulders heavy with both relief and fear. Thunder's Roar growled weakly in approval. It was hard to discern Hollow Tree's reaction. On one paw, he seemed pleased to be reaching their destination. But he also knew that once they arrived he would have no more power than the next duke.<p>

When darkness fell, a few of the cats were gung-ho for continuing in the dark. It took Rain Cloud, Hollow Tree, and Fire Opal to remind them of the danger and convince them otherwise. Drifting Snowflakes watched this with a disconnected sense of passivity. Her opinions and authority were becoming increasingly unimportant.  
><em>That'll change when Dark Night comes here, <em>she thought, then felt ashamed for being so petty. She curled up on her paws and rested her head on the sweet earth. She noticed something and, frowning, examined her paw.

The thick grey pads that were one of the identifiers of every Kingdom cat—well suited for clambering over sharp rock—were clear. Every Kingdom cat had blisters and sores on their pads, whether it be from walking, thorns, injuries, or slipping on rocks. But there were no wounds at all on her feet. The ground was soft enough for their protection. If she needed any more proof that the Kingdom cats were finally leaving their prison, it was there.  
>Smiling at the thought, she slipped into sleep.<br>And dreamed.  
>She raised her head in the familiar grassy clearing where she had first met Mitternacht. And there he was, high above her, still enormous, powerful, and plain.<p>

Yet he seemed diminished. His shoulders hung heavily and his green eyes had dulled slightly. Something moved within her and she took a few steps towards him.  
>Mitternacht looked up. "Greetings, little one. You have questions for me?" His voice was softer than when she had last heard it.<br>"Are you sick?" Drifting Snowflakes asked.  
>"No. I am bereft."<br>"For what?"  
>"For the future, and for the things that must be. For the sacrifices in all times." He sat down.<br>"How did you bring me here?"

"I did not. Your powers are growing, and they led you to me."  
>Drifting Snowflakes' eyes widened. "Powers? I don't have any."<br>"Yet here you are."  
>The silver Queen thought this over for a time before asking softly, "The legend of White Fire. Is it true?"<br>"Ah, little one. Those who must ask if the tales of their faith are true are opening themselves up to a question that they might not want to answer." Seeing her incomprehension, he added, "Is it enough to say that the lessons and virtues she taught are true?"  
>"I suppose," she said doubtfully. "But then, where did Shadow Heart come from? Is he the same as Cold Night? And Rhangori?"<p>

"Cold Night, Shadow Heart, Rhangori—different names, same animal. As to where he came from—I do not know the full story. It was hidden from me for a number of reasons. But here is what I do know.  
>"Long ago, there was a cat created intended to be a warden, of sorts, for the Kingdoms. Felidae and I could not be there the entire time, yet we did not want them to be unguarded. So we shaped this cat and gave her some of our power, whispered to her many secrets and sent her off into the world."<br>"She?" Drifting Snowflakes asked wonderingly.  
>"It had to be female. It had to be a cat that knew the pain of life. A wounded one. For a time, all was well. We were able to manage the Kingdom cats quite well—come down ourselves if the need be—"<br>"Wait. Is that why you were able to show yourselves in tales, but not anymore? Because of that she-cat?"

"Yes. Time works differently where we come from—what is an hour in our world may be a thousand years in yours, or less than a second. So we kept a warden there to keep us attached. But eventually she became addicted to her power and used it to tyrannize the mortal cats. We were intending to destroy her when—something unexpected happened."  
>"What?"<br>"I cannot say exactly. Not to a mortal. A higher being—above me, below the Creators—fell in love with her. He left his domain to plead with her to stop."  
>"What's so bad about that?"<p>

"I know it is hard for you to understand. But to my kind, the higher beings, we are not like you. Love is one of the few things that is an entirely mortal invention. The creators did not shape it. Thus we thought ourselves immune to it and the things it can drive someone to. We were proven wrong, and it shook us. Quite apart from that, the higher being was not meant to reveal himself. He was punished savagely, had his power stripped from him, and was humiliated utterly."  
>"And the warden?"<br>"The warden was torn apart and cursed. The Creators dragged her _cyth _from her flesh and sundered it in two. Half of it contained her gifted power, as well as what remained of her gentleness. This was planted in the hearts of certain cats. They, and some of their descendants, made the _ameslari. _The second part of her spirit—the evil cruelty— was thrown into the world abyss and left to disintegrate. Only it did not. It feasted on the darkness around it and rebuilt a sentience. He rose to the mortal world again."

"And that's Cold Night."  
>"That is. His life circles; he is born a mortal, eventually dies, and reverts to a monstrous shadow-form that feasts on the souls of others. If he is killed in that form, he returns to the world abyss and rebuilds himself as a mortal."<br>Drifting Snowflakes shuddered. "So you're saying there is no hope? No matter what we do, he'll come back?"

"There is a gap of many, many years between his shadow-death and his mortal rebirth. Time enough for him to be forgotten. But yes, it is eventually inevitable. You cannot destroy darkness, only rise above it." He paused and eyed her. "Why has Fire Opal not told you this?"  
>"Fire Opal? How would she know?"<br>Mitternacht ever-so-slightly bared his fangs. "She is the flesh."  
>"What?"<br>"I told you that the warden's _cyth _was torn from her body and sundered. Fire Opal is the shell that contained it. She was cursed to never find a resting place; to live and die as a mortal again and again until the world she stands on falls away."

Drifting Snowflakes took several deep breaths. "Fire Opal is evil?"  
>"No. She has neither the capacity for good nor evil. She merely exists. Perhaps she felt enough of a kinship with the shadowbeast to attempt to protect him, for a time at least."<br>"No," argued Drifting Snowflakes. "Remember? She was the one who gave up White Fire and taught her how to bring about Shadow Heart's demise. She would never support him."  
>"Perhaps," Mitternacht said wearily. "I know you have a friendship with her. Ask her yourself, if the shadowbeast can be killed."<br>Drifting Snowflakes shifted her weight from paw to paw. "I'm leaving now," she said, trying to sound firm.

"Do as you wish," he replied. "I cannot stop you." He sighed and tilted his head. "In the days to come—I tried to persuade them otherwise. I truly did. Remember that I love you all and always will, whatever you think of me."  
>Drifting Snowflakes closed her eyes and felt a strange rising sensation. She opened them again and found herself among her Kingdom mates with the sun beginning to rise.<br>They set off, the wall beside her continuing to shrink, until at last it was simply gone. The river, freed from its sound restraints, boomed massively as it writhed away. There were a crowd of cats on its opposite bank, some leaping across nimbly on the slippery rocks.  
>A large ginger tabby finished the crossing and turned his head from side-to-side. A voice croaked nearby him.<p>

"Lightning Strike?"  
>Drifting Snowflakes watched as Thunder's Roar padded heavily towards his son. For a moment they faced each other, searching in their counterpart's eyes. Then with a sigh the old King plunged his muzzle into Lightning Strike's shoulder and murmured something that she couldn't hear.<br>She turned away from them, intending to give them space, and began to look for Dark Night. But before she had gotten very far, Lightning Strike appeared at her side.

"I love you," he said.


	25. Chapter 23: The Changing Of The Names

_For the living, two kinds of names exist  
>The names we're given<br>And the names we take.  
>Those that are given describe us as we once were<br>Those that are taken show what we hope we could be._

**Moon of the Fading Darkness, 1****st**** Sun  
>In the season of Leaf-Bare<br>Year 1, Clan-Time  
><strong> 

"Hello, Lightning Strike," Holly Leaf mewed. "You seem worried. More than usual."  
>Lightning Strike shrugged his powerful shoulders. "That's one way of putting it, I guess."<br>Holly Leaf matched her pawsteps to his. "Well, maybe I can help you figure things out. I'm good at that."  
>"I don't think you can…" he began to argue, then sighed. "Oh, whatever. I'm sure the world won't end if I tell you."<br>Holly Leaf flicked her tail and listened.

"We're nearly at the end of our journey," the Prince said. "Drifting Snowflakes' friend—Chantame—says that, several hours ahead, there's a big waterfall with a path leading down a slope. Once you're past there, there's a small wood, and from there it's the flat barren lands. Then, our new home."  
>Holly Leaf didn't say anything, and merely dipped her head in acknowledgement.<br>"That's a good thing, yes. It's taken nearly a whole moon and many lives to get here, and I'm glad we've finally got through. But what's going to happen after that? A lot of cats have chosen mates from other Kingdoms. Like me." He looked over his shoulder to see Drifting Snowflakes talking with a group of Eastern cats. Though she didn't see him, he gave her an affectionate smile.

"I don't want to be apart from Drifting Snowflakes, but I can't leave my Kingdom, especially not with Thunder's Roar so sick. And I don't want to put Drifting Snowflakes in the position of choosing between me and her Kingdom. I'm not the only cat in that position. Everywhere, knights are talking about it."  
>Holly Leaf was about to speak, but Lightning Strike got there first.<br>"Who's going to lead us? The knights don't really follow us anymore, and I can understand that. How will we divide out the territory? I really want the moorland, but I know Broken Heart wants to live in the pine forest, whereas Hollow Tree's hinted to me a thousand times that he thinks we should get as far away from the Western Kingdom's lands as we can.

"Even if all that somehow works out—won't things just be like they were? With fighting and killing? In a few generations, our descendants won't remember this journey at all. So how will this home be any different from our last?" Lightning Strike shook his head.  
>"I can think of an answer to all that," Holly Leaf mewed quietly. Lightning Strike stared at her. "You can? How?"<br>Holly Leaf tipped her head up to the sky. "I've been thinking for a while now about why I, above all other cats, was sent here to guide you. Why not a cat of your own Kingdom? Anyway, I've thought, and I think I know now. You're not meant to be Kingdoms any more. You're meant to be Clans."  
>"Clans?" echoed the ginger tabby. "You've mentioned them before. Is that where you came from?"<br>"Yes. Sort of. Where I came from, there were four Clans. Actually, there were six, but one split from the rest of us long ago and the other wasn't…real, in the physical sense of the word. Anyway, four Clans. We had our own territories and leaders, just like you do. But we were also different. We were governed by a series of laws known as the warrior code."

"The warrior code," Lightning Strike said, tasting the words on his lips.  
>"Yes. First and foremost, be loyal to your Clan, and be prepared to defend it with your life. You can have friendships with other Clan cats, but nothing more than that. Secondly, don't hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory. Thirdly, elders and kits must be fed before warriors—"<br>"Elders?" interrupted Lightning Strike, not knowing the word.  
>"Elders are cats who have grown too old to be warriors—knights—or queens…maidens. They are respected by the Clan for their wisdom and they help pass on stories to the younger cats."<br>Lightning Strike thought this over. "Do elders hunt or fight?"

"No. I can see how this might be hard for you to understand, but it's considered an honour to care for these cats. It's like repayment for their lifetimes of service to the Clans."  
>Lightning Strike thought of Rain Cloud, of Eagle Wings, and of his own father. Yes, if he had a choice, he would prefer them to have spent their later days in quiet rest.<br>"Prey is only killed to be eaten. I know you do this already, but you also have to thank StarClan for its life. I'll explain StarClan in a moment—"  
>"No, wait," interrupted Lightning Strike. "Stop there. Let me gather all the other Kingdom cats. They should hear this." He drew to a halt, let out a powerful yowl, and all the Kingdom cats stopped walking and began to form a circle around him.<p>

If cats could blush, Holly Leaf might have under the sharp eyes of all the cats watching her. She cleared her throat and briefly went over what she had just told Lightning Strike before picking up her thread of conversation again.  
>"Yes. Where was I? Rule number five. A kit must be at least six moons to be an apprentice. That's a mixture of a squire and a page."<br>"Six moons? That's young," remarked a cat. Lightning Strike looked over and recognized Fading Shadows, the Western tom who had fallen in love with an Eastern she-cat.

"Clan kits are used to a lot more prey than Kingdom kits," Holly Leaf explained. "They grow faster. Rule six—a newly appointed warrior must keep a silent vigil for one night after his ceremony. This is so that he can reflect on what his new position means to him.  
>"Seven: A cat cannot be made deputy without having mentored an apprentice first. A deputy is a leader's second-in-command. This rule was made to ensure that the deputy has already had experience in guiding other cats.<br>"Eight: The deputy will become Clan leader once the leader dies or retires."

"But what about the Princes?" mewed a duke.  
>"There are no royals in the Clan hierarchy. There is only one leader, and he or she chooses a deputy from the ranks of the Clan warriors. All warriors are equal to each other, though of course some are more respected than others. A queen serves her Clan in a different way, through raising kits. She is considered the equal of a warrior, and she may return to being a warrior when she chooses. Apprentices are lowest in Clan hierarchy, as they are only learning.<p>

"Nine: After the death or retirement of the deputy, the new deputy must be chosen before moonhigh. This is to ensure that there is always a cat ready to take the leader's place."  
>"A lot of these rules sound like common sense," Hollow Tree said. Holly Leaf nodded to him. "They are, for the most part, but you'd be surprised how many cats don't follow them. Ten: At the full moon, all Clans meet in a gathering. During this gathering, there is a sacred truce—no fighting allowed. Eleven: Boundaries of the Clans must be checked and marked daily."<br>"We can't do that," Dark Night growled. "Our borders will be too large."

"In the Kingdoms, they were. But you'll undoubtedly have smaller territories as Clans. Easier to patrol. Twelve: no warrior may neglect a kit in pain or in danger, even if it's from a different Clan.  
>Thirteen: The word of a Clan leader is the warrior code.<br>Fourteen: Warriors do not need to kill each other to win their battles. We fight only to prove our strength and skill. You may only kill your opponent if they're evil, or if your own life is in danger." Holly Leaf paused, as if expecting an outcry, but many cats were nodding in agreement to the rule.  
>"Lastly—oh, never mind. I doubt you'll be needing that rule."<p>

"Clans. Two Clans?" rumbled Dark Night. "That sounds lonely."  
>"It does," agreed Lightning Strike. "Which is why I have a proposal to make. I've been thinking, and wondering over why Mitternacht chose six cats in particular. Why not six Clans?"<br>Holly Leaf twitched her ears. "Six?"  
>"Why not indeed?" asked Rain Cloud. "Six Clans—it should keep our numbers and territory small and equal. A smaller number of knights—warriors—means that leaders will have to place more value on the lives of their cats."<p>

"A Clan for each of us?" murmured Hollow Tree softly.  
>Lightning Strike nodded. "You've all proven yourselves to be worthy leaders. Rain Cloud, Broken Heart, Hollow Tree—I've seen how much the knights respect you and follow your orders." A general yowl of approval floated into the air.<br>"So, what would the names of our Clans be?" purred Drifting Snowflakes. "We can't exactly name them after directions—North-West Clan?"  
>Holly Leaf felt the conversation was getting slightly out of paw. "My Clans were named after their first leaders," she put in.<p>

"Broken Heart Clan? North-West Clan sounds better," teased the tabby guardian.  
>"That's another thing," admitted the black she-cat. "Clan cats have different names to yours. Like my name—Hollyleaf. No pause between the words. Your name would be Brokenheart. You'd be Raincloud. You'd be Darknight, you'd be Hollowtree, you'd be Lightningstrike—" she said, gesturing to each cat in particular.<p>

"What would I be? Driftingsnowflakes? Sounds weird," the silver Queen said.  
>"You would probably be called Snowdrift," replied Hollyleaf.<br>"The Clans…DarkClan, SnowClan, RainClan, HollowClan, BrokenClan…and ThunderClan?" Dark Night asked.  
>Hollyleaf actually flinched. "If you ask me, I think LightningClan sounds better," she mewed.<br>"Keeping with tradition and all."  
>Dark Night dipped his head. "So, no longer Kingdoms, but Clans," he murmured.<br>Hollyleaf hesitated, unsure of how to continue. She decided to just go for it.

"There's…another thing. Apart from the warrior code, the Clan cats all believe in StarClan. That's the tribe of our ancestors, who watch over us from the heavens. Every Clan has a medicine cat—what you would call an _ameslari._ These medicine cats heal the Clan and interpret omens and dreams from StarClan. They also provide advice to the leaders and serve as ambassadors between Clans."  
>"We don't have any <em>ameslari<em>," Drifting Snowflakes mewed. "And I'm not sure I want to believe in anything except the Snow Leopard, Mitternacht, and Felidae."  
>Hollyleaf nodded. "You don't have to give them up. They can co-exist with StarClan. What do you call your heavens? Svarga and Valta? Your ancestors already live there. If you have a medicine cat, they'll be given a voice."<p>

She could tell they were still unconvinced, and decided not to press the subject. After all, the Tribe cats held different beliefs to her Clans, as did the wolves, owls, and deer. It would inspire them to be more peaceful if they believed in guardians of the warrior code, but she couldn't make those decisions for them.  
>After all, belief in StarClan was <em>not <em>a part of the warrior code.  
>Broken Heart stepped forwards. "All in favour of becoming Clans, and warriors?"<br>A general mew of approval rose up.

"Settled, then," mewed Hollowtree. "So—Lightningstrike, Clan leaders all, what do you believe we should do about the shadowbeast?"  
>Snowdrift turned her head to gaze at Fire Opal. "You know something about him, don't you?" she asked, quietly. "Can he be killed?"<br>Fire Opal breathed out slowly through her nostrils. "Yes. He can die just like the rest of us can. I just don't see how we can do that. He's too big for us to simply tear out his throat."  
>"If all of us attacked at once—" Darknight began.<p>

"Then we would lose so many of our cats we might as well not left the Kingdoms at all," rasped Raincloud. "Think with your head, not your claws. How else can animals die?"  
>"Poison," suggested Hollowtree.<br>"He doesn't eat," pointed out Snowdrift.  
>"That means starvation and dehydration are out of the question, too," murmured Lightningstrike. "And he has no natural predators, or sicknesses. Well, then, how else do we die?"<br>It was Brokenheart who spoke next, softly. "Falling."  
>The Clan leaders slowly looked from one to another. "Chantame?" Darknight said, turning to the strange cat. "You said there was a waterfall ahead?"<p>

"That's right, sir," agreed Chantame. "Not as tall as the one you've already passed, but quite a reasonable size nonetheless. Certainly high enough to kill."  
>"Even if the fall doesn't kill him, the rocks might," murmured Moonlight.<br>"How do we trick him into jumping off a waterfall?" queried Hollowtree.  
>Hollyleaf cleared her throat. "Once upon a time, my Clan was attacked by dogs. A dog is a smaller, stupider wolf. We thought of the same plan—forcing their pack leader off a cliff. To do it, we sent out a group of our fastest cats. The first got the dog's attention and ran towards a certain point, while the dogs were following. At the point, another cat darted out and took over, letting the first cat rest. This kept happening until the last cat dashed to the edge of the gorge and slipped aside at the last possible moment. The dogs fell off the edge."<br>"It worked?" Brokenheart asked.

Hollyleaf hesitated. "Well, no, but not because the plan failed. Another cat tried to stop them."  
>Lightningstrike shrugged. "We don't have a whole lot of options, do we? How do we find Cold Night?"<br>"That's easy," mewed Fire Opal calmly. "He'll come if I call for him."  
>The Clan cats turned to stare at her with questioning eyes. She met them until they all looked away.<br>Darknight flicked his tail to get the general attention again. "All right. The fastest cats…five should do it. Hollowtree, first. Then Shadowfade. Then Moonlight, Lightningstrike, and finally Snowdrift." He looked towards Chantame. "I'd like you to walk us over the territory around the waterfall while there's still light in the sky. We need to have this plan ready by nightfall."  
>"So soon?" replied Chantame.<p>

"There's nothing to gain from waiting and everything to lose," agreed Raincloud. "The darkness will confuse the shadowbeast, so he won't realise that the cat he's chasing will be different." She sighed. "Snowdrift, you'll have the most dangerous task. You'll need to slip away at the exact second before the cliff. The darkness will work both for you and against you. The beast won't know the drop is there, but you'll need to remember where it is exactly. You won't get a second try."  
>"I know," replied Snowdrift tersely. Lightningstrike touched his muzzle to hers in the mildest of admonishments, and the beautiful tabby sighed. "Sorry."<br>"_Tāḷme, _Snowdrift," said Raincloud. "Your time will come in just a few hours. Give me a chance to worry for you."


	26. Chapter 24: The Last Sacrifice

_When the stars threw down their spears,__  
><em>_And watered heaven with their tears,__  
><em>_Did he smile his work to see?__  
><em>_Did he who made the lamb make thee?_

**Moon Of The Fading Darkness  
>1<strong>**st**** Sun**

Lightningstrike was waiting.  
>The moon was gone. The stars were hidden by thick, heavy clouds, rippling with the clear scent of rain. The air was cool and soft, the breezes gentle; it was as if the entire world was breathing very quietly, intent on the enigma dancing on her earth.<br>The broadleaf trees sighed and shook their bare branches, as though they could taste their awakening, just one moon-cycle away. The pine trees remained silent, their aroma of sweet sap perfuming the night air. The shadows played between their needles, chased each other through the scales of the pine bark, and stretched jagged fingers across Lightningstrike's pelt.  
>The massive heartbeat of Time itself seemed to have slowed; a moment rested for much longer than a moment; seconds stretched out as long as hours; and far away, on the other side of the world, the sun shone down on a surface that knew nothing of the cats, or the wolves, or of the terror that pulsed in their hearts.<p>

Perched in a tree about forty wolf-lengths away from Lightningstrike, an owl watched. He was not old, but his golden gaze burned with a knowledge that stripped all youth from his face. He knew something of cats and their ways, but he had never seen a cat that crouched so still and waited so patiently when there was no prey around for some distance.

In the space deep within him, the space that cats would call _cyth _but his kind had no words for, a shadow drifted. Though he could detect no danger with his physical senses, this space was calling for him to fly, far away, as quickly as his wings would take him. But owls are a unique species of animal and one of their gifts, a blessing and a curse, is that they do not fear in the way other beasts do. Though they can become afraid, it is not difficult for them to master their fear, and this has led them both to sources of great knowledge and to strange deaths. So though all other beasts in that section of the forest had fled, the owl waited. The cat not far away from him, and yet with no idea of his existence, waited. The trees whispered to one another in their airy tongues, and waited. The clouds above hid all sources of light from the earth, and waited.

Until the mysterious engine that is Time shook itself out of its drowsiness and pressed moments back into proper moments. The forest awakened and there was a sharp gust of wind. It carried the sound of running paws to the owl's ears, and a familiar scent to the nose of the cat.  
>Like a pale cloud herself, Moonlight dashed into the clearing and skidded to a halt, spraying up a mist of pine needles and dirt. Her sides heaved but her eyes gleamed with triumph.<br>"Get ready," she informed the world. Lightningstrike stepped into the middle of the glade, his heart hammering painfully.

"Moonlight," he whispered. The she-cat looked at him.  
>"I'm so sorry," the ginger tabby told her. "Sorry for everything."<br>Moonlight closed her eyes briefly and nodded. "I forgive you."  
>Lightningstrike's shoulders raised, as though a burden he had not even been aware he was carrying had lightened. A crashing began to filter through the air, and he caught Moonlight's fear-scent. He was frightened, too, though not for himself. He had outrun Cold Night before—he knew he could do it again. No, his fear was for Snowdrift, and the Clans he had sworn to protect.<p>

The sound of tearing brush and crunching earth was swelling, and Lightningstrike settled into a sprinter's crouch.  
>"Go! May the Mountain Wolf guide your soul!" Moonlight called, and Lightningstrike exploded away.<br>The wind seemed to be helping him; it blew ferociously at his back, pushing him onwards, hiding his scent. He remembered Cold Night as heavy and stocky, not built for running. Yet now his long strides were beginning to close the distance between them.  
>Bushes clawed at his fur, rocks seemed to leap out of the ground, determined to unbalance him. Now Lightningstrike <em>was <em>afraid for himself. If he tripped here, he could break his neck or his leg, and all would be lost. The night now worked against him—his heart was pounding too loudly for him to hear the river, and the scent of the oncoming rain was drowning out any odours he might have used to guide his way. He ran on, and became aware that the bloody scent the wind was pushing into his glands from behind was strengthening. _Wolf and Leopard help me, he's catching up!_

Just as he was about to give himself up for lost, he caught a new smell. A scent that he would never forget. His heart swelled and he nearly ran into his beloved silver tabby, with fur like moonlight on snow.  
>Snowdrift licked his ear swiftly. "Are you all right? I was so worried…"<br>"I'm fine. Get ready, he's coming…and he's getting faster, I think." Lightningstrike gasped for breath, but her very presence seemed to be giving him energy.  
>Snowdrift peered into the darkness behind them, and looked back to him.<br>"Will you run with me?" she asked him.  
>"Always," he promised, exhaustion forgotten, touching his nose to hers.<p>

So when Cold Night closed in on them again, the two Clan leaders galloped away. They ran swiftly and smoothly, their paws working in sync, and every now and again they would glance across at each other and be strengthened by the love they saw in their eyes.  
>A roar began to surround them; Lightningstrike realised that one was indeed Cold Night bellowing in fury, but in front of them was a much sweeter, more natural noise.<br>_The waterfall! _  
>Cold Night was now so close that they could hear his gasps for breath, but they were fearless, and ran on with the power of all the stars in the sky. Their paws carried them clear of the forest and into the space that lined the river. It was just possible to see the sudden drop, but only as a deeper patch of darkness in a lightless world. At this, Snowdrift nudged Lightningstrike off his paws. He tripped and fell away from her.<p>

"Stay here!" she told him, drawing to a halt. "Hide."  
>Lightningstrike growled softly.<br>"Do it, please!" she hissed.  
>With utmost reluctance, Lightningstrike forced his way into an evergreen bush.<br>Snowdrift flicked her ears towards where Cold Night was approaching. Strangely, she felt calm, despite her racing heart and heavy breathing. It was as though she had reached a point where she was beyond fear.

The wind blew a gust of scent towards her, the scent of pain, violence, and the bloody scourge. Then, she knew—both her past, her future, and what needed to be done now.  
>"I know why White Fire never escaped," she called, to the stars where Hollyleaf claimed her ancestors lived. "She didn't sacrifice herself to the Kingdoms because she had to. She died because she loved them."<p>

There was a screech and a tree was suddenly wrenched out of the earth and slammed into the ground. A pair of red eyes watched beyond, and Snowdrift knew that Cold Night had never been tricked. From the beginning, he had known all along what they had planned, for he was the twisted soul of an _ameslari, _and his dreams of the future were as potent as any god's.  
>Cold Night forced his way into the clearing. A total absence of light lined his body; he was still vaguely cat-shaped, but he had a <em>canaver's<em> muzzle and an_ amenokti's_ paws and the ruff of a _vaşaq._ He looked up at the cloud-wreathed sky, then back to her.  
>Distantly she was aware of Lightningstrike shifting in his bush, and she prayed that he would stay still. This was her time now.<br>Cold Night's eyes met her own, and she forced herself not to look away from those vast red orbs, though they chilled her blood. Then he spoke.  
><em>What will you do now, little one? It is your choice.<em>

"I'm going to defeat you," she replied softly.  
><em>You cannot. I am more powerful than your wildest dreams. Soon, I will find the Creators, and force them to lie at my feet. The whole world will be mine. Run along now, little kitten, and we will forget we ever saw each other. I will let your Kingdoms—Clans now?—live in peace. I have no wish to harm future slaves. I will only require the occasional sacrifice.<br>_"No," she breathed. "Only mortals can change the world."

_You sound like Mitternacht. Did he say that to you? It was a law, a law passed by the Creators when they realised their powers were fading. It is the excuse they use when humans lay waste to the forests and drown the rivers in filth. That mortals must have _choices. _They must _decide _to change. _His voice dripped with scorn. _And yet that did not stop them from wanting to kill every cat in your Kingdoms, did it? It took all of Felidae's and Mitternacht's persuasion to convince them otherwise. They said that the Kingdoms could change…because of you! You and Hollyleaf and Lightningstrike…the last hopes of the Cat-Lords! Do you see the irony now, little kitten? The Creators are so desperate to hold onto their last scraps of power that they send others to do the tasks they should do themselves. And they are surprised when those others fail. _Cold Night shook his head._ You understand nothing of this. I see it in your eyes._

"Come, fight me then," Snowdrift growled. "I'll show you how much I know. You're just the scum of an ancient warden, thrown into a nightmare because of the errors of others. You only aim for power because you don't know what else to do. You expect me to worship you? I _pity _you."  
>Cold Night snarled incoherently in rage. <em>Errors! The Time-Keeper—his stupidity—how dare he? <em>The monster advanced towards her; Snowdrift took several steps back. "Get angry all you want! It doesn't matter anymore. Once you die this time, you're not coming back! I will hunt down your _arima _and drop you at the paws of the Snow Leopard. You will never hurt my friends again!"  
>Cold Night roared, a sound that leaped from his throat and shattered the air. A nearby <em>sova <em>let out a terrified screech.

_I will enjoy tearing you from limb to limb, _he hissed. _I would have let you live before—but not now. I will devour your soul and then torture your mate to death. He will die cursing your name._  
>Snowdrift stepped back again, and felt her tail swish over empty space. She smiled.<br>"Do you fight your battles with claws, or talk?"  
>Cold Night crouched and sprang. His claws seared into her flesh, but she felt no pain—only a mingled sense of triumph and grief as the force from his leap carried them both over the edge and down into the river below.<p>

Watching from his brush, paralysed by terror and shock, Lightningstrike felt half of his heart leap after her. He shook off his dreadful lethargy and sprinted to the edge.  
>Then he screamed, loud enough to startle the owl into crying out yet again. Lightningstrike whipped to face the owl, wanting nothing more in the world to tear it to shreds, but it was perched on a branch too thin for him to reach. It watched him with what seemed to cats an unreadable expression, but to another owl there was sympathy and sorrow in the golden circles. He was saddened at what he had seen, but not surprised, as though he carried within him memories that were so terrible nothing would ever surprise him again. He spread his dappled wings and let out a clear, cold cry, before silently gliding into the night.<br>As if in response to the owl's call, the heavens opened up, and rain poured. In his shattered, numb state of mind, Lightningstrike believed it was the Wolf and the Snow Leopard, weeping for his lost love.

A cat pushed its way through the bushes. "What happened, Lightningstrike? Did we win? I heard screaming…" Moonlight glanced around. "Where's Snowdrift?"  
>A thorn of agony pierced Lightningstrike's heart. "She's gone," he whispered, before galloping back into the forest, ignoring Moonlight's bewildered eyes.<br>He charged through the thundering rain, ignoring his drenched fur, following the curve of the land downwards, breathing as deeply as he could, desperately searching for a trace of _her _scent.  
>"Is this it, then?" he called bitterly as he ran. "Is this what you wanted?" He had no idea who he was speaking to. Perhaps he called to the whole world, or to fate. Or perhaps it was aimed at a wolf, a snow leopard, a plain tabby tom and a she-cat whose appearance changed depending on the eyes of the beasts who saw her. It might have even been asked of Snowdrift herself.<br>The sound of roaring water pierced the curtain of rain and Lightningstrike veered towards it, his broken heart acting like a whip to his exhausted legs. A scent drifted on the wind—one cold and dead, the other still carrying traces of warmth.

Lightningstrike exploded into a large clearing that edged the river, where he dimly noticed the stale scents of _tulagver. _He was more focussed on the merging scents of Cold Night and Snowdrift. As he ran across the clearing towards the water, he saw what he had sought so desperately.  
>Snowdrift, her body tiny and slicked dark in death, was wedged between two rocks. Her limbs stuck out at odd angles; it was impossible to know whether the fall or drowning had killed her. He let out a cry of frustration—her corpse was too far for him to reach, and the wind and rain had whipped the river into a raging torrent.<br>Cold Night's body had also been caught by rocks, but unlike Snowdrift he bore no signs of violence. A dreadful suspicion began to awake in Lightningstrike's heart; one that was confirmed a second later.

Cold Night opened his eyes.

His feet easily reached the bottom of the river, and his tremendous strength pushed him through the currents towards the shore, his red eyes fixed on Lightningstrike, who was once again held motionless by fear and fury. When the monster finally hauled himself onto the riverbank, he reared up on his hind legs and roared in triumph, a noise that would carry for miles.  
>He lowered himself back to four legs and pushed his nose forwards until it was a few inches away from Lightningstrike.<p>

_Poor little one, _he mocked. _Your mate met a terrible fate, didn't she? And it was all for nothing. Your turn, now._


	27. Chapter 25: Veritas Numquam Perit

_He halted in the wind, and - what was that__  
><em>_Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?__  
><em>_He stood there bringing March against his thought,__  
><em>_And yet too ready to believe the most.__  
><em>_We stood a moment so in a strange world,__  
><em>_Myself as one his own pretence deceives;__  
><em>_And then I said the truth (and we moved on).__  
><em>_A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves._

**NB: Wishbone Falls, Spirit Falls, the gorge that the Kingdom cats were separated by, and all other places named here are real. Their spatial relationship and the people who go there may not be.**

"Dad, wake up!" a voice snapped.  
>Jacob groaned and opened his eyes. "Maria? What's wrong, sweetheart?"<br>"Dad, I think there's a monster outside." It was delivered in a shaking tone.  
>He sat up and rubbed his face, as though wiping sleep from his skin. "There's no such thing as monsters, sweetie. Did you have a bad dream?"<br>Maria, twelve years old and stumbling uncomfortably on the bridge of puberty, sighed in frustration. "No, it was _real_. I kept hearing growls, and then there was a big scream."  
>"I heard the scream too," piped up a second voice. Jacob reached over to squeeze the shoulder of his six-year-old daughter, Ellie.<p>

"Did it sound like a person's scream?" he asked, remembering his own childhood, where every noise in the night meant terror.  
>"No," admitted Maria.<br>"Then it was probably animals hunting. Wolves, maybe, or a bear, hunting deer. You know they won't come here."  
>"But they sounded really close. Pretty much just down the road."<br>Jacob listened for a few moments. All he could hear was the gentle drumming of rain on the roof and the sound of trees swaying in the wind.  
>"We're not making this up," pressed Maria.<p>

Jacob sighed. He was still unsure about how to comfort frightened children. Susan had always soothed the night terrors without him. It had only been six months since her death, and sometimes he thought his grief would never fade.  
>He got out of bed, opened the closet, and pulled on his thick jacket before sliding his feet into boots without any socks. With his two daughters trailing him, he opened the door of their small house to a blast of rain and wind.<br>_I doubt anything would be so much as moving in this, _he thought to himself.  
>He plucked a torch from a shelf nearby and flashed the beam of light into the drowning darkness. Nothing.<br>"Whatever it was, it's not here anymore," he informed the girls. They kept their eyes on him, unconvinced.

"Tell you what," Jacob said. "We'll make some hot chocolate, and then we'll pull out the spare bed so Ellie can sleep in your room, Maria. Then I'll read you a story. By then the animals will be long gone. Okay?"  
>"Stories are for little kids," muttered Maria, but she didn't protest as the three of them went back inside. Jacob scratched his head. The school therapist said that Maria hadn't grieved enough over her mother's death, which was why she was shutting herself off to the rest of the world. Time would eventually solve it, she had said with a note of doubt in her voice.<p>

He instructed Ellie to fetch the hot chocolate powder from the pantry while he began to fill up a jug with hot water. He had reached the half-way mark when a roar exploded through the air.  
>Jacob flinched and accidently dropped the jug, which, fortunately, wasn't full enough to spill any water. Quickly he shut off the hot-water tap and backed away from the sink.<br>Maria, who had been taking mugs out of a cupboard, flashed her father a glance of mingled fear and triumph. "Believe us now?"  
>"I never thought you were making it up," he protested, then realised he was wasting his breath.<br>"What are we going to do?" whimpered Ellie.

Jacob analysed the roar. It was too deep to be a cougar, and too loud for a black bear. Unless a lion had escaped from the zoo, seventy miles away, that could only mean it was a grizzly bear. They were unknown in these parts, though he had heard talk that they were beginning to return to the higher areas of the US Rockies. Perhaps this one had woken up too early and had climbed lower in search of food.  
>He hesitated. He knew the procedural thing to do would be to call the park ranger and let him deal with it; however, it was late, the weather was appalling, and the only evidence he had was a noise.<br>"Stay here," he told his daughters. "I think it might be a grizzly bear. I'm going out to see."  
>Maria's eyes widened. "Are you sure? What if…" she trailed off.<p>

"I'm not going to find it," he promised. "You can't shoot grizzlies, anyway. I need to check if there's any scratches on the trees. That means the bear's made its territory here. If not, then we know it was just passing through." Seeing that they were still frightened, he added, "I'm taking the rifle with me. I'll be okay. Keep the lights on, all the doors and windows locked." He was about to suggest they watch TV, before realizing that most of the channels would be displaying inappropriate movies or foreign news. "Put some music on if you get too scared, and if you hear the bear again, call me straight away. It won't come here, though."

They still looked extremely doubtful, and Ellie ran forwards to give him a hug. "Come back, Dad," she whispered in his ear, and his heart tugged at her serious tone. "Please come back."  
>"I will. I promise I will," he told her, before walking into the office.<br>He kept his gun at the very top of a locked cupboard inside a locked safe; it took him a while to find the key and remember the code. He loaded the gun.  
>"Remember, stay inside, and call me if there's trouble," he called to his girls, before heading to the front door.<p>

The weather was still awful. Though there were no signs of lightning, the wind was dangerous enough. It plucked at his short-cropped hair as rain did its best to drench him.  
>"God damn it, could that bear have picked a worse night?" he muttered as he pushed open the gate, closed it behind him, and stomped over to the trees. No scratches that he could see.<br>Jacob thought. Where would a grizzly bear go? He knew that they scratched trees near reliable sources of food, like the fish rapids, or beehives.

Then it came to him. The Spirit Falls campground. It sat about a half-mile south of the actual waterfall, and even at this time of year, there were tourists who would go there to admire the plunging water and take hikes. Jacob preferred to take his children to the Wishbone Falls, twenty or so miles upstream, which was higher but less accessible, and less populated. He'd been up there only a few days ago.  
>Back to Spirit Falls. Since there were almost always people, there was almost always food in the bins. It would be a metaphorical gold mine for a hungry bear, particularly one that didn't mind humans.<br>Making a decision, Jacob broke into a brisk walk and trotted down the road that would lead to the campsite.

As he drew closer, he began to fancy that there was a darkness to the air that did not come from the night. And just as he was barely a half-mile away from the campsite, a scream pierced the rain.  
>There was another flash of sound as a small animal burst from the trees and shot towards him like a bullet. It was too dark to see clearly, but it skidded to a halt and collapsed behind him, utterly exhausted. Jacob could hear its soft, laboured breathing, like whispers in the dark.<br>Then, he saw the eyes. It smashed a tree-trunk out of the earth, where it tumbled to the road with a _thunk_. The rain poured mercilessly, and he began to perceive an outline edging those eyes, an outline that spoke of an animal too big to be real, too frightening to exist outside of books and video games.

It stopped, its red gaze fixed on him. Jacob's heart was pounding wildly; terror had flooded his brain, and yet there was something deep within him that seemed attracted to the monster. It was like a train wreck, or a mass-murderer; there was something fascinating about it, and he couldn't bring himself to do anything except watch.  
>The red eyes bobbed up and down, and a voice slithered through the soaked air and twined itself around his ears.<br>_Can you run? _it hissed. _I think not.  
><em>It took one deliberate, careful step towards him, a forked tongue flickering between its lips, tasting his horror.  
>This was it.<br>He would never see his daughters again.  
>And as he thought of them, their faces pressed into his mind—and he was free.<p>

He swung the gun upwards, aimed, and fired a bullet directly into the monster's chest.

For a period of time that could have been a second or an hour, the monster tilted its head and looked down. It examined the wound with a detached curiosity, as though it was looking at another creature's injury.  
>Something—too solid to be darkness, not enough to be true blood—began to pour from the wound. The monster bent its head and lapped at it, but it kept streaming on, ignoring its increasingly frantic attempts to stem the flow. Finally it lifted its head.<br>_I will not forget this, _it whispered.

The glowing red orbs were beginning to dim; the shadowy beast's legs buckled and it collapsed on the ground, now choking on the dark fluid that was pouring from his mouth, chest and nostrils. It opened its jaws, but it had no breath to scream. Its eyes, now almost completely dark, met Jacob's for the final time.  
><em>I…will… never…forget.<br>_And with that last oath of vengeance, the last of the light faded from its eyes; the head drooped and brushed the road; the fluid pooled around its paws.

Cold Night died as he was born; in darkness, at the feet of his enemies.  
>If Jacob had been gifted with the spirituality of an animal, he would have truly seen what happened next. A hissing sound emanated from Cold Night's gaping jaws. A wisp of coloured light streamed from his throat and formed into a small mouse, ears twitching. She was soon joined by hundreds of other animals—deer, wolves, owls, hawks, goats, even a young bear. A white she-cat stepped from his corpse, noticeable by the fact that half her face had been torn away; she cast a look of mingled hatred and revulsion onto her killer before joining the circle forming around him.<br>Last to step out was a beautiful silver tabby. She did not look at Cold Night at all, and merely padded silently to the space that awaited her.

As her soul left his shadows, Cold Night began to crumble, the darkness that formed his body condensing into pale ash. He had no true flesh, no skeleton—he existed in the physical world only as a corruption of others. As the spirits watched, he turned to dust.  
>The souls turned to Jacob. They raised their voices to him in gratitude, in sorrow, and in triumph. Each one of them licked or nudged him gently before they departed to their own heavens.<br>But of course, Jacob did not hear or see any of this. All he saw was the monster he had shot dissolve into a powdery substance that the wind quickly swept away, into the trees and beyond. All he heard was a gentle sigh.

He realized that the rain had stopped. Stars peered through patches of sky, but it was still too dark for him to see properly. He turned on his torch and flashed it down to the animal that still lay unconscious at his feet.  
>His mind whirled. It was a cat, a large one, probably male.<br>He had seen it before, when he was camping on Wishbone Falls. There was no mistaking that blazing ginger fur.  
>As he tried to process it, and wondered what twist of fate and caused this, the cat stirred and opened its eyes. It let out a small mewl.<p>

For a few heartbeats Jacob considered keeping him. Why hadn't he thought of getting a pet before? Susan had been allergic to fur, but all four of them were animal lovers. A pet might bring back some of the light into Maria's eyes.  
>As he was thinking this, the cat pulled himself up to his paws and met Jacob's gaze. He knew, at that moment, two things: the cat had recognized him.<br>He would also never be a pet. In a way that Jacob didn't really understand, the cat was connected to the world around him with an indestructible link. It would escape his household or die trying. As the cat and the human watched each other, both understood his fellow perfectly.

The cat meowed, more firmly this time, and trotted down the road towards the campground. After about thirty feet, he stopped and glanced back at Jacob before beckoning with his tail.  
>"You want me to go with you?" Jacob asked. He hesitated. He should go home, to his frightened daughters. Yet there was a kind of desperation in the cat's eyes that he thought he recognized.<br>So the cat and the _tulagver _approached the campground, and when they did, the cat darted ahead and crouched down by the river's edge. Jacob plodded up beside him, and with his torch beam followed the cat's eyes to a damp heap just within his reach.  
>"You want me to get that, boy?" he said. The cat didn't look at him, but he twitched his ears.<br>"Fair enough, then," Jacob told him, before dropping his gun, leaning over the water, and grasping the heap. He lowered it gently to the ground at his feet and shone the torchlight onto it.

It was another cat, much smaller than the first, with clear breakages in her legs and spine. Jacob sighed.  
>"Sorry, boy," he murmured. "This one's dead, I'm afraid. A friend of yours?"<br>This time, the cat didn't acknowledge him. He kneaded the other cat's fur with his paws and began to lick the top of its head, silent.  
>Jacob watched the ginger tabby for a few moments, then nodded, picked up his gun, and headed back towards the road. Sometimes it was good to have people with you, when you were sad. Other times, it helped more to be left alone.<p>

As he crossed the threshold of his house, he was assaulted by two noisy children. He swept them both into his arms.  
>"Was it a monster, Dad?" asked Ellie with wide eyes.<br>"Yes, it was, sweetie. But it's dead now. I promise you."  
>"A monster?" Maria frowned. "A real, actual monster?"<br>He put his hands on her shoulders and crouched to her level. "As real as they get," he told her. "But, you know, sometimes I think there are more monsters in our heads than there are anywhere else."  
>Maria nodded sadly. Jacob stood up.<p>

"So, hey, we never did make that hot chocolate, did we?" he asked his daughters. "Oh, and girls? How would you feel if we got a dog or a cat as a pet?"  
>Ellie squealed. "Really? You mean it?"<br>"Of course. We've got plenty of room for one, after all—maybe even two."  
>"Yes! I want a dog! I'll name her Fluffy, and she can sleep on my bed and go to school with me!"<br>"She won't be doing either of those things, I'll say that right now," muttered Jacob. He glanced at Maria.  
>Her eyes were shining. <p>


	28. Chapter 26: There Is No End

_So you're tired of running.__  
><em>_You're tired of hurting.__  
><em>_You're tired of living in their lie.__  
><em>_You're tired of listening.__  
><em>_You're tired of hurting.__  
><em>_Keep your silence alive._

Lightningstrike was quietly licking his mate's fur when he met the wolf.  
>The rain still fell, though it had quietened somewhat. The river swelled and debris snatched from rock to rock. The wind had faded into a constant hiss against his ears.<br>"I'm sorry," he whispered, though for what he wasn't sure.  
>Then the she-wolf appeared. One moment she wasn't there, the next she was.<br>Like Hollyleaf, her outline was not truly distinct, but her fur was a pale gray that ruffled up against the wind and the rain. She approached the cat, her soft golden eyes glowing in the night.  
>"Who are you?" rasped Lightningstrike without much interest.<p>

The she-wolf sat down. "My name is Laryissa, though not for much longer. That was your mate, yes?"  
>Lightningstrike nodded. "She died to kill Cold Night, but it was all for nothing."<br>"Not so. The pact has been upheld. Cold Night will never hunt you again."  
>"Not in my lifetime, perhaps," replied the ginger tabby, "but he will appear again in the generations to come."<br>"That may happen—but I doubt it. For all their many, many faults, the Creators know how to uphold a bargain."  
>"What bargain was this?"<br>Laryissa breathed out through her nose in a deep sigh."You deserve to know. But it is a long story."  
>"I have nothing left except time," said Lightningstrike softly. The wolf eyed him briefly, but her expression was unreadable as she began.<p>

"Long ago, there was one cat, blessed with almost unlimited power. The more she served her lords, the stronger she became. Eventually she grew too powerful, so the Creators tore her into three. But they knew that the Kingdoms would not survive without their lords watching them, so they decided that having many weak eyes was better than having one powerful Warden. They took all the goodness that remained from the soul of the she-cat and implanted it in the hearts of others. Those cats began to directly communicate with the souls of the dead and their gods, and their powers merged with their blood, so that many of their descendants would also have the gift of deep sight. Thus the cats that some call _ameslari _and others call healers or medicine cats were born. Eventually, as time will cause, the blood became spread so thinly across so many that the power faded. It became apparent only in minor ways; a small connection with the _arimas _of the recently deceased and an understanding of the natural world. Now and then, though, there would come a cat who had the _ameslari _power in all its full blessing. Such cats are very rare and of immense value to the Creators. All have strange and inescapable destinies. That was Snowdrift."

This hadn't answered Lightningstrike's question, but he sensed that there was much more of the story to come, so he rested his chin on Snowdrift's fur and waited.  
>"You know the legend of White Fire. Perhaps you do not know, though, that she was an experiment. The Creators were well aware of Cold Night and his violent ambition to usurp their throne. Yet they could not strike him down themselves.<br>"In the beginning, there was darkness, and then there were the Creators. They brought forth the world and the space around it in one blast of raw, fiery power. It weakened them terribly and they had very little strength left. They wanted to live long enough to see their universe spring to life. So they made a pact with the darkness in the world abyss. There lies the third and secret Creator, whom I know nothing about but whom I will soon see. His—if it is a he—his power had not been involved in the making of the universe, so he was immensely strong. He managed its opposite—death, destruction, darkness.

"The two life-Creators made a pact with him. He would lend enough of his strength so that they could create the lives they wanted, but in return, they had to impose certain restrictions on their worlds. Once their children had been born, their final product could not be tampered with. All life would have the free will to make their own choices and to shape themselves as they saw fit. The life-Creators reluctantly agreed to these conditions, but made a counteroffer. If they could give the death-Creator something of equal value to what they wanted to change, the restrictions would be lifted temporarily. He agreed.

"White Fire was an attempt—neither the first nor the last—to get around this promise. They took a small portion of the Cat-Mother Felidae's soul and placed it within a mortal kit. This, they reasoned, would fulfil the requirement, for the kit was as mortal as possible. Her mind was her own, but White Fire's soul remained connected to Felidae's, so she was able to be influenced down the path that the Creators wanted her to take. You know what happened next. The Creators' plan was ruined by White Fire's own sweetness of spirit and the darkness that already resided in the souls of the Kingdom cats. She died the most honourable death a mortal could have."  
>"I thought the Creators wanted White Fire to die?" Lightningstrike frowned. "That's how the story sounded."<p>

"Stories are not absolute truths. They are fragmented, edited to sound more interesting, changed to better fit in with the teller's ideals. The Creators were horrified by White Fire's death, but they leaped to take advantage of it as soon as they could. They sent Felidae down to slay Cold Night. They thought that this fulfilled the counteroffer they had made the death-Creator—if they sacrificed something, they could change another thing of equal power. They thought White Fire's sacrifice would be enough."  
>"But it wasn't," whispered Lightingstrike. A vision bloomed in his mind.<br>"_Our plans? Your children have failed and disappointed us yet again. My patience is at an end. So are they."  
>"You did not see…they were forced to."<em>

__Laryissa growled slightly. "It was not. The death-Creator replied that it was not _their _sacrifice, but White Fire's own. And although the albino cat was valuable, she was not worth Cold Night. He allowed Felidae to strike Cold Night down and imprisoned him in the world abyss for a century. But he did not kill him.  
>"The Creators knew what they had to do then. The only thing that would be more valuable to them than Cold Night's death was an <em>ameslari <em>with all the power of the original Warden. They could not interfere with this cat's fate, though, like they did with White Fire. Instead, they merely bided their time. They had one hundred years—surely there would be, by that time, born a cat with similar powers. Yet I think they were starting to fear until Snowdrift's birth.

"She was everything they could have hoped for. Essentially good-hearted, respected by her Kingdom, a strong fighter and leader. She was White Fire born again. They promised the death-Creator the destruction of a mountain, and in return they were able to choose five other cats to both protect her and guide her down a path that would ultimately lead to Cold Night.  
>Cold Night appeared more quickly than they wanted. So they sacrificed a large portion of the fleeing Kingdoms to ensure the remaining cats' safety until the right moment. Yet they miscalculated. They had not intended for Snowdrift to hear the legend of White Fire, for they feared that her courage would desert her and she would flee Cold Night instead of fighting him. That is the problem with gods—they see so many terrible things that they are inclined to close their eyes to the possibility of good. Fortunately for them, Snowdrift was not afraid, and I believe that at the last she realized her true fate."<p>

Lightningstrike considered this, and felt something rise within his stomach. It was not true anger, nor true grief, but something in between. It rose to his throat like a hot coal and made him want to scream. Hastily he asked: "Do you know Hollyleaf?"  
>"Yes."<br>"She wanted us to hear the legend of White Fire. She made Raincloud and Moonlight tell us. Was she warning us?"  
>"I do not know. Perhaps. She is enigmatic at the best of times." Laryissa's eyes grew distant, as though she were thinking of another life.<br>Lightningstrike cleared his throat. The coal was still burning. "So Snowdrift was sacrificed in exchange for Cold Night's death?"

"Yes. I do not know what the Creators have planned for him, but it is unlikely to affect this world much. Or so I hope." She glanced sideways at Lightningstrike. "You burn inside, little one, and I am sorry. It is often hard for mortals to comprehend the ways of gods, especially when they cause so much suffering. If it is any consolation, Mitternacht and Felidae fought this plan every step of the way."  
>Lightningstrike touched his nose to Snowdrift's fur, and he felt a numbness begin to swell around the coal.<br>"It's just hard," he whispered, "to look at her and realise that I'll never speak to her again. I keep…I keep expecting her to just sit up and call me a fool."  
>"It will pass," Laryissa told him. "That is the healing power of time."<p>

"I know. That's what hurts. In a few years time, will I even remember her? Wolf's kindness, I only knew her for a moon. We were mates for two suns. We'll hold her funeral, bury her somewhere around here, and then we'll forget her. She'll never get to see the Clans she died to save, and before too long she'll die in our memories. How is that fair?"  
>"It is not," replied Laryissa, "which is why you should take it upon yourself as a sacred duty to hold her memories close. If you truly loved her, you will not forget, and if you do not forget, she will live on."<br>Lightningstrike closed his eyes. "What should I do now?"  
>"Anything you like. Your destiny died with your mate—you are free again. You may even return to the high mountains if you wish. For what it is worth, though, I think you should finish your journey, if only to see the place your mother dreamed of."<br>"You know what she saw?"

"I am a wolf, and wolves are curious."  
>Lightningstrike thought back to their earlier conversation. "You said you won't be Laryissa for much longer? What does that mean?"<br>"It means my time as an _arima _is done. I have accomplished what the gods wished of me. The world abyss awaits me—if the religion of my people is true, when I walk through the veil my spirit will return to the fire in the earth's heart and be reborn in a wolf cub, with a new name."  
>"Do you think that happens with cats?" said Lightningstrike, suddenly seeing hope.<br>Laryissa shook her head. "The spirit is separate from the body. No memories or personalities are carried with it."  
>"It must go somewhere, though," he argued.<p>

"It does. At the centre of the earth burns a great fire. It contains the knowledge and secrets of every life that passed through it. There are some wolves—we call them _vigilim—_who can access this core and thus gain true knowledge. They are made, not born, and it apparently takes a lifetime to master the skill."  
>Lightningstrike nodded slowly. "Thank you for…explaining things, I guess."<br>Laryissa inclined her head. "The pleasure was mine. Before I go, though…traditionally, the number of lives given to a leader is nine, but I doubt anyone would argue your right to have a tenth." She touched her nose to his.  
>"With this life, I give you mysticism. Use it well to keep hope close to your heart, and to hold fast to faith. You may walk the dreamworld safely. This life will give you a connection to the Creators, so you will always know something of what is to come."<p>

A pulse of heat flashed between them, and Lightningstrike's head spun. His mind whirled with colour, light, images. He saw a tortoiseshell pull a brown to safety from a cliff edge. A magnificent gray tabby tom marched at the head of a crowd of cats, tail high. He saw White Fire die at the claws of her Kingdoms; Fenris howling his song to the gods; Mitternacht shaking the snow from his pelt as he was born under the stars. He saw Fire Opal, at once both beautiful and terrifying, and he watched in horror as a snow leopard ripped out her heart. He saw Cold Night's red eyes shining from a darkness so heavy his spine chilled to see it. He saw Sesse and Cantori playing with their pups, and watched Chantame greet a silver cat so much like Snowdrift his heart ached. When he thought he could take no more, the visions faded, and he realised that he was completely alone. Laryissa had gone.

A strange sense of certainty settled around his heart, and he felt the coal within him crumble away. He would use his gifts; not for himself, as Snowdrift and Cold Night had done, but for his Clan. He would serve them until his death and use his strange power to light their way. Picking up Snowdrift's body, he padded through the light rain and began the long, long walk back to his friends.

_Spirit World/World Abyss_

Snowdrift shook her head and opened her eyes.  
>She was standing in the same place where she had first met Mitternacht, and later, Cold Night. Like those other two occasions, a cat awaited her.<br>Felidae watched her with sorrow-filled eyes, and touched her nose to the silver tabby. _You've been so brave, _she whispered softly. _Do you still have courage left, my daughter?  
><em>Snowdrift nodded slowly. "If I must."  
>Felidae was not beautiful, as Snowdrift had expected. She seemed to be a mixture of all the she-cats Snowdrift had ever known, with parts of her resembling Ice Storm, Northern Lights, Bright Stars, even Raincloud and Brokenheart. In this, Snowdrift realised that part of Felidae resided in all she-cats, and all she-cats belonged to Felidae.<p>

_Yes, _the Cat-Mother replied, though Snowdrift had not spoke. She placed her tail around the _arima_'s neck and guided her slowly through the forest. As she did, she told Snowdrift the same tale that Laryissa had told Lightningstrike.  
>A dreamy sense of betrayal filled Snowdrift; she broke free of Felidae's hold and walked slightly apart from her. Felidae watched her anxiously.<br>_Do you hate us, little one?  
><em>Snowdrift nodded.  
><em>I don't blame you.<br>_They stopped at what looked like a thin veil; it fluttered and there was a gentle flow of sound, like birdsong but different. Snowdrift thought she'd heard the sound somewhere before.

There was a whisper of paw steps and suddenly dozens of cats sprang through the veil. Their fur glittered like starshine and they carried the scent of ice and fire. Recognizing many of the faces—all the cats that had died on their journey and some of those who had passed away just before—Snowdrift called a greeting, but they ignored her, bounding past in long strides.  
><em>You will see them again, <em>promised Felidae. The veil trembled again, and this time the two beasts that stepped through were not cats. The Wolf and the Leopard glanced around them.  
>"<em>Que, sera sera<em>," sighed the Mountain Wolf. "Forgive us, little one. We did not have any choice."  
>"There's always choices," said Snowdrift, forcing the words through a lump in her throat. She could tell that none of them, not even Felidae, really understood what she was feeling. They were not mortal; they would never know. She noticed that Mitternacht was missing, and wondered if that was significant.<p>

The Snow Leopard looked up at the sky above. "This will do, I think. What say you, Felidae?"  
>The Cat-Mother inclined her head. <em>I agree.<em>  
>"What's going on?" Snowdrift wanted to know.<br>_Your ancestors are gathering here, _Felidae replied. _We have decided to use the method that helped the Clans of old. Through certain ways, some of the living will be able to communicate with the souls of the cats they once knew. StarClan is being reforged.  
><em>"Am I part of StarClan?"  
><em>You are its leader, <em>Felidae replied.  
>Snowdrift nodded slowly. "So I'll still be able to watch over my Clanmates?"<br>_Yes, you will be able to see them and guide them.  
><em>Deep inside, Snowdrift felt slightly mollified. "Thank you?"

"Come," said the Mountain Wolf. "There is more that must be done." He padded through the veil, with his three companions following.  
>The weather, previously so warm and sweet, turned icy and cold. The trees were bare and skeletal; the only light came from a strange glowing fungus on their bark. There were distant sounds of movement, but Snowdrift could not taste any scents. A sense of dread began to weigh on her shoulders. "Where are we now?"<br>Nobody answered her. They travelled deeper into the grim woods, and the feeling of oppression intensified. Though she could still smell nothing, the silver tabby felt eyes piercing her pelt; she resisted the urge to stop and look.  
>After what seemed an age, the four drew to a halt. Snowdrift gasped.<p>

The trees had abruptly vanished—instead, there was a smooth pane of ice stretching unbroken almost as far as the eye could see, though she thought she could dimly make out the silhouettes of more dark trees beyond. The ice glowed with a strange blue light, and she strained to see past it, she saw shadows flicker underneath its surface.  
>"Like everything in the universe, the afterlife has both a light side and a dark. This place goes by many names," the Snow Leopard said. "Some call it the Dark Forest, or the Place of No Stars. We prefer not to speak of it at all. This is where the souls of evil beings reside."<br>Snowdrift's neck fur began to fluff up; she glanced around her.  
><em>Do not fear, Snowdrift, <em>said Felidae. _There is no-one here except us right now. What you feel is merely one of the punishments—paranoia— inflicted upon cats who are forced here. _

Just as she spoke there was the sound of heavy pawprints, and Mitternacht emerged from the darkness between the trees. The cold blue light from the ice played across his tabby markings.  
>In his jaws he carried a brown cat, seeming small and pathetic compared to him. He nodded to Snowdrift and dropped the unconscious form. "I am sorry for your suffering."<br>"I don't blame you, Mitternacht," Snowdrift replied gravely. "Who is that cat?"  
>Mitternacht pushed the hapless body closer to the light. "Cold Night," he said simply.<br>Snowdrift's eyes widened, but she recognized him as the handsome tom who had spoken to her in the dream where she had met Chantame. "Is he dead?"  
>"No. But he will be punished, soon," said the Mountain Wolf. A light glimmered on his soft black nose; he touched the tom gently on the shoulder.<p>

Cold Night's eyes flew open; he staggered to his paws. His eyes were still red, but without the awful glowing quality she had last seen in him.  
>"Cold Night, Rhangori, Shadow Heart—whatever name you wish to take," growled the Snow Leopard, "you are charged with murder and slavery. Do you have anything you wish to say for yourself?"<br>Cold Night shook his head, trembling. Snowdrift almost felt sorry for him, so obvious was his terror.  
>"Very well," said the Mountain Wolf, "if you do not wish to speak, we shall do it for you. We understand that you may have been wronged in the past. That does not excuse your actions; nothing could. However, we are inclined to treat you with justice, rather than vengeance. You will not die here."<p>

Snowdrift protested. "You're not going to kill him?"  
>"No," said the Snow Leopard coldly. "He will suffer worse. Since you have gained a taste for desecrating the souls of others, our punishment is to give you a new identity. From this day forwards, until and unless you redeem yourself, you will be known as the Devourer of Souls. You will be imprisoned beneath this barrier, and you will be placed under the command of the Death-Creator's lieutenant. Regardless of your actions, he will torment and torture you daily, Devourer, but if you obey him he will reward you with souls."<br>The Devourer hesitated, then nodded. "I accept."  
>"Then step upon the ice."<p>

He did so, and began to swell in size, growing until he dwarfed Mitternacht and the Creators. As his paws expanded, gigantic blades slid out of his toes until they stretched at least a metre long and gleamed razor-sharp. A green light shimmered in his throat, matching the glow in his now-amber eyes. An eerie wind blew through the Dark Forest and the Devourer's pelt suddenly changed colour; one half of him turned pure white, the other darkened to black.  
>The Devourer examined the changes that he had undergone, and began to laugh—but underneath his paws the ice cracked and split. His amusement turned to fear again as he fell through the hole and vanished into the darkness below. The ice muttered to itself briefly and reformed into an unbroken swathe of blue.<p>

"Remember what you have witnessed, Snowdrift of StarClan," said the Mountain Wolf. "No mortal has seen anything of its like, and none will ever do so. The Devourer is sealed from your world. He will never be able to break the barrier."  
>"Are you sure?" Snowdrift dared to ask.<br>The Snow Leopard growled and her eyes burned as she stalked over to Snowdrift and cuffed her head firmly.  
>The Mountain Wolf was milder, though he seemed irritated as well. "We are certain. There are only four in the universe who can reach through that barrier, and they would never set him free. The pact has been upheld; now you must return to your own afterlife."<br>_I will take you, _said Felidae. _Come now, little one._  
>Snowdrift flashed one last glance at the ice lake. Was that a shadow she saw, gliding underneath its surface?<p>

She shuddered. They were right. She did not belong here. Turning her back on the lake, she followed Felidae back into the hunting grounds of StarClan.  
>When they arrived, Felidae gave her ears a quick lick before fading away. <em>I will see you again, little one. Please don't hate us.<em> Yet Snowdrift knew that part of her already did, and always would.  
>She dipped her paw into a puddle of water nearby, and the reflection changed. She saw Lightningstrike carrying her body through a gentle rain, and she closed her eyes in sorrow.<br>"I'm so sorry, my love," she whispered, hoping that somehow, somewhere, he could hear her. "I will wait for you forever." 


	29. Chapter 27: Reveille

_Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine._

Dawn approached.

The sun pulled on the Earth and forced her to turn her lovely face deeper into her rotation as she silently circled her shining master. The scarred and broken moon trailed calmly behind in her orbit, weaving in and out of her shadow, singing to her tides. He accepted the light from the fiery sun as a sacred blessing and flushed his face with all the shades of gold and silver. He then presented this light to the Earth as a gift, not only in gratitude for shaping him and keeping him close, but for the life that laughed and loved on her surface. This light would keep company those who shunned the sun; it would kiss the cheeks of those who awoke, sweating and shivering, from terrors that only the night holds.

The Earth turned, and the darkness lightened; the clouds swayed and dissolved as a breeze, fresh with the scent of the coming day, filtered through their misty fingers. They parted to reveal the stars, fading, but throbbing with the promise of return. The moon, who had been missing from the sky that cold night, shivered and sank before pressing his face to the Earth's surface with the tenderness of a lover. The wind glided over the mountains on invisible wings with not a thought for those who rested beneath the crisp air and as it passed a silence descended upon the world. There was no sound; not the drip of water from damp leaves, not a bird's call—even the waterfalls were soothed.

A dark shape haunted the still dawn; a shape that lay on the bank of the river, a beast with darker traces pooling around its paws and head. The sky brightened, and the shadows spread further.  
>The morning light caught the edge of the river, and the moon raised his eyes and cast them on the blackness that gathered on the sands of the virgin forest. He sent a silent command to the river, already swollen with the sky's gift of rain, and it obeyed.<p>

The edge of the river began to glow gold; its main body remained clear as the purest crystal. This edge spread tentative fingers through the earth and grains of the bank, searching for the darkness, delicately absorbing the decaying leaves and drifting sands of the terrestrial world. It reached the first tendrils of shadow that edged the creature's shape and promised them light; they trembled and turned silver, reflecting the last of the stars, before thickening and circling the creature. Slowly, slowly, the liquid rose, carrying the shape on its weary shoulders. The shape quivered and two points of green glowed at its head, a green that matched the leaves of the forest trees and the eyes of the Wounded One. The river offered silent encouragement while the moon waited serenely from high above.

The body was now coated in silver and floating delicately towards the riverbank. The dawn light glittered off its fur and the beast sighed in a final release. The golden edge guided the silver stains into the flowing course of the river, who accepted this new burden with an audible _splash _that seemed to lift the taboo of silence cast across the mountain forest.

The sun called, and the Earth answered, swivelling her beautiful face to meet his. The moon closed his eyes and faded from her sky. The river began its indomitable course, singing to itself as it flowed, still carrying the silver-kissed body of Hollyleaf as she passed into eternity.


	30. So Long, And Thanks

_And truth is a mortal blow_  
><em>Well, you know now all there is to know.<em>  
><em>Well, the hurt that you have kept so close<em>  
><em>Is something better now.<em>  
><em>A whisper that can blow a chasm wide—<em>  
><em>It took us all.<em>  
><em>Push apart the mountains and the tide—<em>  
><em>It took us all.<em>

So—the end.

Almost.

There really isn't much more to be said here. Lightningstrike carried Snowdrift's body back to the Clans, where they gave her a proper Western Kingdom funeral, leaving her body groomed and beautiful in a sheltered clearing. None of them had any idea how to dig a grave, and they believed that Snowdrift would prefer her body to return to nature quickly.

Lightningstrike never told his Clanmates about the _tulagver. _He merely told them that Snowdrift's valiant and doomed leap had killed Cold Night. With his curious—and slightly uncanny—gift of predicting the future and reading the hearts of others, he knew it would be easier for all concerned that Snowdrift was remembered as more than she was.

On the way down the last mountain, with the barren lands in sight, the Clan leaders discovered a mysterious cave. When they stepped inside to examine it they heard the voices of their ancestors calling them. They fell asleep, noses pressed to a stone pillar, and dreamed of shining spirits that carried the scent of ice and fire. These spirits wound their bodies around the exodus cats' fur and gifted them with nine lives, and nine gifts. Since it is forbidden to speak of a ceremony of StarClan, no-one knows what those gifts were, or who gave them to the leaders. But we do know that when they came out they were known as Lightningstar, Brokenstar, Hollowstar, Rainstar, and Darkstar, and they carried within them all the secrets of the warrior code. They left behind them Chantame, who knew his heart lay within the enigmatic depths, and he promised to keep it a sacred secret for the Clans until his death. He did not know when he made his vow that the cave was beyond time, so that as generation after generation of cats pressed their noses to the pillar and wished for dreams, he would remain.

The new leaders guided their Clans down the last stretch of their journey, across the barren lands, until they came into sight of a vast moor and a thick broadleaf woodland. Thunderroar recognized the place in his mate's visions. His burden of grief doubled in weight, and he no longer had the strength to carry it. Yet there was relief in his heart, too; he had seen the place where his old Kingdom would live, and he approved. He joined StarClan peacefully, blessing his son with his last breath.

The new Clans then had to decide who was going to live where. This was not as difficult as it might have sounded, for it also solved which cat would live in which Clan. LightningClan took the moorland that flanked the mountains, and they became known as the fierce, broad-shouldered warriors who revelled in the art of war. DarkClan made the broadleaf forest their home, and Darkstar summoned the cats of quick mind and razor wit. Brokenstar fell in love with the pine woodlands that reminded her of the glade of tranquillity; the swift and loyal followed her. Rainstar found her place in a thick tree-studded scrubland, and her Clan became known for its wisdom and elusiveness, and their remarkable memories. Hollowstar guided his ambitious and strong-willed cats into the deepest, most ancient part of the woods, where the trees were massive and snarled with vines and the ground was marshy underpaw. Lastly, after a brief discussion, it was decided that Shadowfade, or Fading Shadows as he had used to be called, would lead SnowClan. The cats he took were essentially pacifist and were notable for their powerful leaping skills. Shadowfade was a good leader—he was also, though he kept this secret to his death, Snowdrift's half-brother—but as memory of Snowdrift faded, it began to be whispered among the other Clans that SnowClan alone did not have the favour of StarClan. It was a shadow that would never fall from them.

Lightningstar did not forget Snowdrift. She visited him in dreams too often for that. But eventually he did find that he could love again, a love that took the shape of his loyal deputy Moonlight. They bore numerous kits and his bloodline would run strongly through his Clan.

Brokenstar also fulfilled her deepest wish and bore a litter, though it is unknown whether they had any kits of their own. She never forgot her friendship and oath of loyalty to Lightningstar, and during the first three leaderships of LightningClan and BrokenClan they would quite freely hunt on each others' lands and take mates from without. Eventually wiser heads prevailed and the borders were secured.

Darkstar had children, though he did not take a true mate and nothing is really known about them either. Every now and again, though, throughout DarkClan history, a black tom with scarlet eyes was born, and he was cursed with both great power and misfortune.

Rainstar was too old for kits, but she did live to a great age, and though her Clan was naturally smaller than the others, they were graceful and well-respected. By tradition they spoke first at a Gathering, which was held in a small clearing on the outskirts of BrokenClan territory. It was Rainstar, too, who would discover the Spirit Creek, a shimmering brook with silver rocks that was the domain of medicine cats sharing tongues with their ancestors.

And Hollowstar? Like Rainstar, he bore no kits. For the first generations, HollowClan were content with their own land. But their ambitious blood eventually burned too strongly to ignore and they gained a dark, bloodthirsty reputation.

Fire Opal remained among the Clans. She sought out the remaining _ameslari _within their ranks and taught them the secrets of healing and interpreting omens. The medicine cats. Once her work was done, she took up residence in BrokenClan, and died there. No-one knew that as her last breath passed from her lips, a tortoiseshell she-kit blinked and opened her rainbow eyes.

And the remaining two Kingdoms, that the East and West had left behind? They were unhurt in the debris avalanche and believed the other two Kingdoms had been crushed under the weight of stone. In the pragmatic Kingdom way, they quickly split the remaining territory between them and continued on with their ceaseless war. Eventually, a new story would arise from their depths, but it is not mine to tell.

Thank you to all reviewers and acknowledgement goes to all those who helped me write this. I don't want to name you because I have a bad memory and I might leave someone out, but you know who you are. But I do have to give a big hug and thanks to CrystalKat14 for being the most brilliant friend and greatest artist in the history of the universe. Yep, you made the Kingdoms. But I made them awesome .

The poems and songs used in this book, respectively, are:  
>Chapters 1-5: Battlefield (Blind Guardian)<br>Chapter 6: Bible, Job 39:5 (paraphrased)  
>Chapter 7: Secrets (Alexa Woodward)<br>Chapter 8: Violet Hill (Coldplay)  
>Chapter 9: Anonymous<br>Chapter 10: Glory For Sorrow (Venkatesh Ram)  
>Chapter 11: In Country Sleep (Dylan Thomas)<br>Chapter 12: Stopping By The Woods On A Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)  
>Chapter 13: Down River (The Temper Trap)<br>Chapter 14: Flight Of The Midnight Wolf (Anonymous)  
>Chapter 15: Bible, Isaiah 11:6 (paraphrased)<br>Chapter 16: Middlemarch (George Eliot)  
>Chapter 17: Friedrich Nietzche<br>Chapter 18: Martin Luther King  
>Chapter 19: Unknown—attributed to Albert Camus.<br>Chapter 20: Me  
>Chapter 21: The Great Beyond (R.E.M)<br>Chapter 22: Watership Down (Richard Adams)  
>Chapter 23: Me<br>Chapter 24: The Tyger (William Blake)  
>Chapter 25: A Boundless Moment (Robert Frost)<br>Chapter 26: Misery (Good Charlotte)  
>This Chapter: She Called Up (Crowded House)<p>

**This is the first book in the Darkfighter trilogy. The second book, Firewalker, is not a direct sequel to this. It will be out very shortly.**


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